Sarydos of Blacklight
by ToBeNothing
Summary: Sarydos Tervandes, a sell-sword from Blacklight travels to Skyrim to seek his fortune. Contains strong language, violence, and later in the story I plan on adding some lemon. I do not recommend it for children. Disclaimer: I do not own Skyrim.
1. Chapter 1: First Impressions

It had been a days journey on foot from the city of Blacklight into Eastern Skyrim; a journey that was not without it's woes: wolves, rats, mudcrabs, bandits, and most recently trolls, a dangerous traverse indeed but Sarydos was used to dangerous work having spent time as a mercenary back in the city and has driven off everything from slaughterfish to reavers to Kwama Warriors.

He had quite a keen understanding of combat, balancing blade, bow, and spellcraft in his battles with the various fiends of Morrowind, his experience as a sellsword had done him well on his journey so far and he had no doubt it would continue to prove it's worth for years to come; however, he was no longer in his beloved Morrowind the familiar grasslands and blue skies of the Velothis district was now replaced with snowy fields and bitter cold winds.

'Skyrim is nothing like home.'

he thought to himself as he trudged through the snow trying to follow the worn cobblestone road to the nearest city. He knew he was getting close when he began to pass small farms, he stopped at one of them when he saw another dunmer working the field nearby.

"Excuse me friend, may I have a moment of your time?"

The other elf looked up at Sarydos from under his thick eyebrows, his face is worn and dirty and his hair is long and frames his face.

"Yeah? what do you want?" He asks in a tired and slightly annoyed tone.

"I was wondering if you could tell me whether or not this is the city of Windhelm." Sarydos speaks as clearly as he can. The other dunmer just stares at him for a few seconds with a somewhat confused look on his face but then he finally answers.

"Yeah, this is Windhelm alright."

Sarydos thanks the elf and begins to walk away,when suddenly he hears the elf say

"Don't expect a warm welcome from the nords, though…."

he turns around to face the elf again

"I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"The nords of Windhelm… well… pretty much all of skyrim... don't very much like us…."

"Oh….. thank you for the warning, I guess….." The elf simply nods and continues his farm work. As Sarydos walks towards the bridge into Windhelm. As he walks across the bridge many of the city guards stop and watch him walk by. As he watches them watch him he concludes that they aren't used to the sight of a armed and armored dunmer in these parts. He pushes his way through the door into the city, he steps inside and pauses to take a look around when suddenly he hears something that catches his attention, he looks slightly to the right to see two nord men and a dunmer woman, he takes a few steps forward to listen in closer.

"You come here where you're not wanted, you eat our food, you pollute our city with your stink and you refuse to help the Stormcloaks." One nord says

"But we haven't taken a side because it's not our fight."

"Hey, maybe the reason these gray-skins don't help in the war is because they're Imperial spies!" The other nord chimed in

"Imperial spies? You can't be serious!"

"Maybe we'll pay you a visit tonight, little spy. We got ways of finding out what you really are."

the first nord snarled, his voice carrying malice and hated.

He had heard enough, Sarydos trotted over quickly towards the dispute an positioned himself between the sneering nord and the defensive dunmer woman. surprised, the nord looks at Sarydos, who crosses his arms and gives the nord an intimidating glare.

"What?! What do you want?!" He snarls, Sarydos just stares at him harder.

"You damn grey-skin. Go back to Morrowind!"

"You know, you sure do talk a lot." Sarydos sneers, shoving the nord back causing him to stumble a bit. People are starting to gather around and the dunmer woman steps back, not wanting to be caught up in the middle.

"You know something else?" Sarydos continues. "I don't like your attitude."

The nord steps forward quickly calling upon his confidence

"Don't like it? Too bad. This is our city. Ours! Don't think I can take you? One hundred septims says I can punch you back where you came from."

More townsfolk gather around the scene.

"You're on." Sarydos smiled.

"All right. Fists only. And none of that magic stuff, either. Let's go!"

Sarydos removes his sword handing it to the dunmer woman. He then removes his Bracers, he wants the pleasure of beating down this nord with his bare knuckles.

"Ready?"

"Ready."

The brawl begins

The two men rush towards each other, the nord swings and misses.

"Is that all you've got?" Sarydos teases. He swings again, another miss. Angered, the nord swings again and again, each time missing his mark. The crowd is yelling:

"Come On! Drive that snowback into the ground!"

"Teach that Grey-Skin a lesson!"

"Hit em Dammit, Hit em!"

'hmmmm, this crowd doesn't seem to be on my side….' Sarydos thought to himself. 'That'll just make it even more satisfying when I beat him to a pulp…."

He smiles, it's been an amusing game watching the nord fumble around trying to hit him but now it's time to end this, Sarydos finally decides to swing back. The first strike knocks the nord's head to the left the next knocks him off balance, he stumbles to his knees…. but it's not over. Sarydos repeatedly pounds the nord's head with his fist, each impact pushing his head violently downward until the nord finally gives in.

The beating stops, the nord takes a moment to catch his breath, he stands up to face Sarydos. Bleeding and bruised he looks at Sarydos wearily.

"That wasn't….. a fair… swing" He manages to slur. Sarydos smiles.

"Pay up, n'wah"

"yeah. sure. whatever, here you go."

He hands over 100 septims and stumbles off towards the tavern in defeat with his hand on his head. Sarydos chuckles to himself before turning around to collect his things from the dunmer woman woman. She stares at him taken aback by his bravery.

"My possessions please, miss"

She snaps out of her trance and begins to hand over his effects. First; the bracers, as he slides them on she admires his sword, it is an emerald colored blade forged of Malachite, leather, and moonstone, It appears to be instilled with so sort of enchantment as well as the blade gives off a dark blue-purple glow, she admires it a bit more before handing it off to him. He sheathes the blade then looks back to her, she takes this opportunity to speak:

"Thank you, I'm not sure who you are but… thank you…"

"You are welcome"

"Looks like those Nords were giving you a hard time" He adds.

"Nothing new there. Most of the Nords living in Windhelm don't care much for us, but Rolff is the worst by far. He likes to get drunk and walk around the Gray Quarter yelling insults at us in the small hours of the morning. A real charmer, that one."

He stands there pondering just how bad the discrimination against his kind is in Skyrim when she speaks again:

"It would seem we have not been properly introduced, Might I know your name?"

"Of course, my name is Sarydos Tervandes just out of the city of Blacklight"

"Blacklight you say, I haven't been there in a long time. Pleased to meet you Sarydos, My name is Suvaris Atheron."

After a quick exchange of pleasantries the two bidded each other goodbye and went about their business, Suvaris traveled back towards the Grey quarter while Sarydos made his way towards the market. As he walked towards the marketplace he noticed the windhelm residents stopping to stare at him some out confusion, some out of disgust, while others were simply surprised to see a new face around he simply ignored them and continued on his he reached the marketplace he saw several venders manning their stalls: there was a nord blacksmith with a younger nord woman that sarydos assumed was either his daughter or his apprentice maybe both, an Altmer woman with an enchantment table, another nord selling produce and on the far side of the market another dunmer, having gotten a bad impression about nords from earlier he decided to see what the dunmer had in stock.

"Come and browse my fine selection! Everything's fresh and delicious!" The dunmer proclaimed proudly and cheerfully, Sarydos approached the stall.

"What do you have?"

"see for yourself"

after browsing the merchandise, Sarydos bought some steel arrows, a grand soul gem, and a few healing potions but before leaving he decided to ask the merchant a question:

"any good places to get a drink and a meal around here?" The merchant thinks for a moment before replying.

"Well there's Candlehearth Hall but they're not too fond off our kind there, it would probably be safer to go to the New Gnisis Cornerclub down in the grey quarter, it's not as nice but you'll find it far more friendly."

"What's the Grey Quarter?" The merchant stared at him with a surprised look on his face.

"You must be new here, I should've known by that armor, the Grey Quarter is where all of Windhelm's dark elves are forced to live by the nords. It's a terribly impoverished slum not truly fit for living and Ulfric and his lot intend to keep it that way…"

"who's Ulfric?"

"Who's Ulfric?!" the merchant was once again taken by surprise "Ulfric Stormcloak is the jarl of Windhelm and the leader of the rebellion here in Skyrim. He claims to be a liberator but he's just a pig-headed nord and a racist, he despises us and anyone else who isn't a nord. This is his city and he doesn't let us forget it…."

"Thanks for your time." Sarydos says as he leaves the stall.

" You know, you should stop by Sadri's used wares in the Grey Quarter."

Sarydos travels back the way he came passing up the main gate towards where he saw Suvaris go earlier assuming it was the direction of the grey quarter. he walks down the narrow streets and worn stairs where he reaches a filthy narrow alley with a bunch of worn down buildings, he walks further in and sees a the same dunmer from the farm outside of town drinking in front of a small building with a sign that reads _New Gnisis Cornerclub._ He decides to head inside for a drink and some food when he enters he is greeted by the innkeeper:

"Welcome Brother, please enjoy yourself."

Sarydos looks around noting many other dunmer in the bar, there was Suvaris as well as a few dunmer he did not recognize. he takes a seat at the bar and the innkeeper approaches.

"what'll you have?"

" I'll have a leg of goat roast."

"sure, anything else?"

"Do you have any Sujamma?"

"Wish I did"

"how about Ale?"

"Coming right up"

The innkeeper leaves the counter but returns after a short while with Sarydos' order, he places a leg of goat roast and a bottle of ale in front of Sarydos, he picks up the goat roast and begins eating. He hears footsteps behind him, it's Suvaris she sits on the stool next to him.

"Remember me?"

"Yeah."

The innkeeper looks confused.

"You two know each other?"

She looks at him.

"This is the one that beat Rolff Stone-Fist into the ground"

"More like Clumsy-Fist if you ask me"

Sarydos adds.

"You put that fetcher in his place?" The Innkeeper asked, astonished. The other patrons and employee look up from what they're doing.

"Yeah, it was almost too easy." Sarydos answers before taking a swig of ale to wash down the roast.

"Well in that case, consider that food and drink on the house!" The innkeeper proclaims happily.

The front door of the cornerclub opens and closes, Sarydos turns to see who it is. he recognizes the the dunmer and altmer venders from the marketplace, the altmer woman takes a seat at a nearby while the dunmer heads in their direction.

"what's going on here?"

"Aval, good timing." The innkeeper says, Aval looks confused. The innkeeper points at Sarydos.

"This fellow here put Rolff Stone-Fist on his ass!"

"Did he now?" Aval asks

"It's true, I saw the whole thing." Suvaris adds.

Aval looks at Suvaris.

"What happened?"

"Earlier today Rolff and that dingy nord Angrenor were hounding me." She began

"Really?"

Aval asked sounding angered

"Yes, they approached me and just wouldn't leave me alone, insulting me and accusing me of being an imperial spy. Our friend here came and stood up for me." She continued. "He gave Rolff quite a thrashing and sent him limping off."

"Rolff, that fetcher wait til I see him again." Aval said "And Angrenor too, the next time he asks me for a septim I'm gonna spit on him." They all laugh at Aval

"What?! I'm serious!" He yells.

"I'm sure you are brother" Suvaris chuckles.

after an evening of light-hearted merriment at the cornerclub Sarydos set out towards Candlehearth Hall, unfortunately the Cornerclub didn't have any rooms for rent and none of the other dunmer could spare the room he was sure but didn't ask because he didn't want to burden them. He opened the door and stepped outside when he heard a commotion nearby.

"We don't want your kind here, dark elves!"

He recognized that obnoxious drunken voice.

"You like living in this filthy slum, dark elves? Maybe you should go back to Morrowind, where you belong!"

He looked up the street to see none other than Rolff Stone-Fist shouting drunkenly, wobbling in place mumbling to himself in between his shouting with a tankard in hand.

"This place reeks of gray-skin filth!" He shouts again. Angered, Sarydos shouts back

"You must have a death wish, Clumsy-Fist!"

Rolff stops and looks towards where he heard the threat. Sarydos approaches him.

"You should've stayed home, fetcher!" He snarls at the nord. Rolff tosses the empty tankard at him and attempts to make a run for it. Sarydos dodges the tankard and takes off after Rolff. He quickly catches up with the nord who is Stumble-running trying to escape, a hard punch to the back of the head foils his escape and sends him tumbling to the stone, he lays sprawled out on the dirty stone street groaning in pain.

"Aggghhhhhhh..." He groans in pain.

"You really should've stayed home." Sarydos growls. Sarydos thinks about what he should do next when suddenly he hears rapid footsteps heading his way. He looks up to see a Windhelm city guard running towards him.

"What's going on here?" The Guard demands in a thick nordic accent

"He took an arrow to the knee" Sarydos say sarcastically.

"Very funny, what really happened?" Says the guard in an annoyed tone.

"I have no idea, I found him like this." He looks down at Rolff then back up at the guard. "I think he might've had too much to drink."

"Lousy milk-drinker can't handle his mead."

Sarydos simply shrugs his shoulders and continues down the road towards Candlehearth Hall.

'That was close."

He thinks to himself. When he reaches the Inn he opens the door and lets himself in and as soon as he turns around the first thing he hears in a very irritating voice is:

"Another dark elf. Just what Windhelm needs"

He looks to see the nordic innkeeper leaning over the counter looking at him with a disgusted look on her face, not wanting to try his luck hitting another nord he just slams ten septims on the counter and heads toward his rented room for some rest.

'This town has a serious attitude problem' He thinks to himself as he closes his door, he removes his armor and puts on a hoodless red dunmer outfit. He places his bag, his sword, and his armor in the corner of the room on a table. He lays down and closes his eyes.


	2. Chapter 2: Escaping Windhelm

Early in the morning Sarydos is greeted by the sound of rapid knocking on his room's door, he opens the door to find Suvaris Atheron and Malthyr Elenil standing in the hallway.

"Sarydos you must hurry! Get your things together and come with us, There isn't much time!"

Suvaris says franticly.

"What's going on?" He manages to ask sleepily

"Ulfric's guards are looking for you!" Malthyr answers

"Rolff told them that you tried to murder him, and now Ulfric wants to string you up as an example!" Suvaris adds, Sarydos snaps out of his sleepy stupor when he hears that last part.

"Come on, we need to get you to Ambarys at the conerclub, he'll get you out of Windhelm!" Malthyr says looking around to make sure no one is listening. Sarydos throws on his armor as fast as he can then grabs his sword and bag and heads down the hall with the other dunmer. They open the door as quietly as they can and quickly exit the building, the sun has yet to rise and the cold wind blows fiercely against Sarydos' face as he looks around to make sure the street is clear of guards and lookouts. They rush down the street as fast as they can while still staying relatively quiet towards the grey quarter. The sound of their hasty footsteps echoed down the street as they went, Sarydos hoped they would be drowned out by the sound of the wind but didn't make an effort to be any quieter. They stopped as Suvaris peeped around the next corner but immediately brought her head back behind the corner.

"There's a guard blocking our path ahead." She whispered to the two of them

"Any Ideas?" Malthyr asks

"I'll send him away." she replies. She turns around and runs around the corner towards the guard.

"Guardsman! Guardsman!"

"What is it?"

"I saw the man you're looking for!"

"Where!?"

"He was sneaking around the Cruel-Sea's house."

She leads the guard fleetly down the street away from her two companions, they take the opportunity the quicken pace as the Suvaris and the guard are making a lot of noise as the run, the ruckus they're making masks the sound of the the other two sneaking down the street. they hurry down into the grey quarter and reach the conerclub, Malthyr knocks on the door and it quickly opens. They instantly enter as fast as they can and the door shuts and locks behind them, Sarydos turns around to see the Dunmer innkeeper from earlier that night, a man he now knows as Ambarys Rendar.

"Good, you two made it." He looks around. "Where's Suvaris?" He asks.

"She had to get rid of a guard that was in the way, she lead him to the other side of town past the palace of kings."

"Good, that'll buy us some time. Follow me quickly!"

Sarydos follows him to the room behind the bar which contains only a staircase leading to the upper level, Ambarys goes behind the stairs and drags out a heavy crate. Sarydos looks closely to see a sewer grate in the spot the crate had occupied Ambarys prys it open and signals for Sarydos to climb down it.

"Hurry down the tunnels, Revyn Sadri's down there, he'll lead you to the exit."

"Thank you Ambarys, you too Malthyr. And thank Suvaris for me when she gets back."

"Think nothing of it. Now do hurry we haven't much time."

He nods and hurries down the tunnel. He lands on his feet into some foul liquid he'd rather not guess at it's contents, he looks down in disgust but feels a tap on his shoulder and turns around to see another dunmer, one of the bar patrons, this must be Revyn Sadri.

"Follow me, this way." Sadri leads him down tunnels and around corners till they come to an opening that leads outside of Windhelm.

"This is it, do be careful out there."

"Thank you Revyn." Sadri nods in response.

Sarydos climbs out of the tunnel and into the river, the sun is rising as he wades through the water towards the shore across from him. When he reaches the shore he looks around and sees something he did not expect, A nord standing by the Windhelm stables waving his arms at Sarydos signaling him to come over there. Sarydos hurries over to him.

"Do I know you?"

"No, not really. Your friends paid a good bit of coin for me to get you to Whiterun, though."

"Is that so?"

"Aye, but we should hurry before this little plan of ours draws too much attention."

Sarydos nods and climbs into the back of the man's carriage, the nord snaps the reins signaling for the horse to move and they trot off before anyone else notices them.


	3. Chapter 3: I'm glad I came to Whiterun

Boots crash to the ground when Sarydos leaps off the back of the carriage, the trip from Windhelm to Whiterun had been long and hard he was still tired from being woken up so early in the morning to make his escape. He was so tired and the back of the carriage had been far too bumpy and uncomfortable to sleep in so he simply suffered through the entire ride. He stretched his arms out and looked around taking in the sights of Whiterun hold, he leans over and grabs his bag from the back of the carriage and begins to walk up to the gates. As he walks he passes up the stables and a group of Khajiit merchants camped outside of the city walls.

'The nords must not like the khajiit in their cities either.'

he thought to himself continuing to pass them up.

The guards watch him closely as he approaches the gates, when he reaches the gate he turns his head to look at the guard who nods his head as a way of greeting he looks back to the gate in front of him and pushes it open. He steps into the city, unlike Windhelm his first impression of Whiterun wasn't the persecution of his people but instead it seemed like a rather pleasant town, It's no Blacklight but It's far better than Windhelm, although he had enjoyed his time at the Cornerclub regaling the local dunmer with tales of his exploits back in Morrowind. The first thing he did was walk up to the local blacksmith who was conveniently located near the front gate, she was outside of her shop tanning leather on the rack, Sarydos walks up to her.

"What kind of arrows do you have?"

"I've got Iron, Steel, and Orcish arrows."

"You don't have anything better?"

"Check Inside."

He looks over at the door and decides to check inside the shop, when he steps inside he is greeted by a large nord man behind the counter.

"Welcome to Warmaiden's. Now don't let the name frighten you, we've got plenty o' steel for fightin' men."

he bellows from across the room.

"What kind of arrows do you have?"

"right here at the counter? let me see….."

he looks down behind the counter

"I've got steel and dwarven."

"No elven or stronger?"

"Hmmmmm….. wait I've got a few elven arrows here."

He places some arrows on the counter

"Is that all of it."

"Yeah."

"Alright, any malachite ingot?"

"Sure, here you go."

he places the ingot down next to the arrows.

"Know anywhere that might have some good arrows?"

"Try the Drunken Huntsman directly across from us, bows and arrows are kinda their specialty and if not there's always Eorlund Grey-Mane up by Jorrvaskr."

"Thanks."

He says as he places the coins on the counter and his purchase into his bag, he heads out the door and back into the streets of Whiterun, which are a lot cleaner than Windhelm's streets, he walks directly across from Warmaiden's to a building sitting atop a small hill the sign reads "The Drunken Huntsman" he pushes the door open and enters the shop, the counter is to his left and behind it is a long-haired Bosmer, the short folk of Valenwood.

"Hello my Dunmer friend, in the market for some hunting supplies?"

"What kind of arrows do you have?"

"Ah, I think you'll find that I have a fine assortment of many different arrows here in my shop."

He browses many different kinds of arrows and ends up buying some elven, malachite and ebony arrows. He kneels down the stuff them into his bag when he notices someone else in the shop, in the corner of the room there is a Dunmer woman sitting by herself. It is obvious to him that she is a fellow sellsword awaiting a patron, she wears leather armor and carries an iron sword. He decides to approach her.

"You a sellsword, miss?"

she chuckles to herself and looks downward shaking her head and smiling which confuses him a bit and when she looks back up at him she says.

"Blade and shadow, silence and death - these are my arts. For a modest fee, I'll make great art for you."

"So you're an artist of the battlefield, is that it?"

"Indeed."

"But your blade is for hire, is it not?"

"Death is my art, and like all artists, I seek a patron. For a mere handful of gold, I will follow you into any danger."

He thinks for a moment.

"Alright, consider yourself hired."

"A fine choice."

The two of them head out of the shop and towards the front gate, as they walk he asks some questions.

"Know of anywhere around here for a good fight?"

"There's some bandits nearby I've been wanting to wipe out."

"Why haven't you?"

"No-one's paid me to do it yet."

"Ah."

They leave the city heading in the direction of the nearby fort, Fort Greymoor. As they walk he couldn't help but notice her walk. He shakes his head in amusement, she catches sight of the gesture.

"What is it?" She asks, confused.

"Your walk." He answers.

"What about my walk?"

"I have no intention of offending you but…"

"But?"

"You walk as if you were the manliest man who ever lived." He laughs.

"Is that so" she asks "Would you rather I walk as if I were the most delicate woman in the world."

"No, but at least walk as if you are a woman in the world."

"Very well."

In the most exaggerated fashion she could muster she began to walk in an extremely feminine style. Smiling wide as she struts swaying her hips. She looks back at him and he quickly looks away, she turns her head forward again shaking it and laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"Enjoying the view, were you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You were staring at me."

"I was not."

"Yes you were." she laughs "You were staring at my hips."

"I was not!"

"Of course you weren't. And I'm sure you weren't mentally undressing me either." She laughs.

"What! I would never…"

"Think of throwing me to the ground and tearing off my armor"

"What in the world are you…!"

"Sticking your tongue in my mouth while your hands explore freely rubbing every inch of my body."

"I wouldn't…..!"

"Allow me wrap my legs around you as you pull me in close and ready yourself to penetrate me with your… sword."

He is awkwardly silent.

"I'm sure you would never." She smiles as she finishes.

"You talk to all your patrons like this?"

"only the very special ones."

" And I am one of those special ones?"

"We shall see."

He shakes his head in response to her last comment. After what seemed like forever they finally found themselves standing in front of Fort Greymoor. They sneak up to the entrance of the fort carefully avoiding the make-shift barricades placed on the pathway, Sarydos pears around the corner to see a nord with a bow strapped to his back heading towards them.

"Alright, when that bandit gets close enough I'm gonna catch him by surprise and shove this blade into his gut, then you…"

He doesn't get to finish as she charges the bandit catching him completely by surprise, shoving her blade right into his chest, his fur armor offers no protection against the sharp Iron. Sarydos draws his blade and follows her lead. He charges an archer taking aim at his companion, the bandit sees him charging too late as Sarydos stabs him right thru the throat causing him to drop the bow and arrow, he turns around and charges another archer slashing him across face spilling blood across the ground, the bandit puts his hand on his face screaming but is silenced by a blade in the chest, he drops to the ground and Sarydos turns around towards his companion's direction. He sees a bandit between him and her, the bandit carries a steel greatsword and looks as if he is waiting for an opening to attack her from the side. Sarydos runs up behind him, positioning his sword facing downward in both hands, raises it up and with all his might he brings it down into the bandit's back. The blade tears through the the bandit's flesh and stabs it's way through his abdomen, he drops down spewing blood from the wound into a large puddle. Sarydos puts his boot on the bandit's back a rips the blade out of him flinging blood thru the air as he does. His female companion prys her blade from a bandit's chest and turns her head to see him wiping blood from his sword with one boot on a bandit corpse, she takes a moment to admire the view, she rather likes him brandishing a blade covered in blood.

"I was supposed to sneak attack that first bandit and catch him by surprise."

"Well, he was definitely surprised."

she says looking over at the first bandit's bloody corpse.

"Don't worry, I'm sure there are more bandits inside for you to sneak attack." She laughs playfully. They plan out their next move, first they'll sweep thru the dungeon and clear it out then they'll launch an attack on the bandit's in the main part of the fort. They run over to the dungeon entrance and quickly step inside, they sneak quietly across the room and down the steps. When they come across the first bandit he is unlucky enough to be facing the opposite direction heading down the stair, Sarydos quickly hops up and slits his throat sending his corpse tumbling down the stairs head-first leaving a bloody trail. They reach the bottom of the stone steps and start heading down the hall of cells.

"All these bars and chains are making me a bit excited." She smiles slyly as they goes, he cracks a slight smile.

They round the corner and quickly attack the two bandits standing over a troll's corpse. covering the bandit's mouths as they stick them with blades.

"I think that's all the bandits in the dungeon." He says.

"Probably."

They head back up the steps into the first room, as they rush across the the room Sarydos kicks the st bear trap out of the way, he opens the door and steps aside holding it.

"Ladies first."

"How kind"

She enters the next room and he follows closely behind, they rush forward swinging on the nearest bandits killing them so fast they never saw it coming. They cry out as the die which alerts the other bandits who come rushing in the room only to be wiped out almost immediately. They run up the steps and burst thru the doorway surprising the last bandit, a large Orc carrying a dwarven warhammer. She rushes forward swinging on him, he raises the hammer and blocks the strike then shoves her back and swings at her head. She ducks and the warhammer smacks the stone wall with a loud thud, Sarydos leaps behind the orc and slashes his back.

"Aaaaaagggghhhhh!" He yells in pain.

The Orc swings downward at Sarydos but he dodges it causing the warhammer to come crashing onto the floor, His companion swings low and slices the back of the orc's legs, he is brought to his knees. Sarydos takes this opportunity to swing on the orc and cuts off his head. The Decapitated head rolls across the room as the body collapses the the cold hard floor. Breathing heavily they stare across at each other smiling, his eyes suddenly glance over to chest next to her, she looks over at it as well.

"I wonder what's inside" She says.

He walks over to the chest, grabs the edges and flings it open. There is a bag of gold, two healing potions, a diamond, and an Orcish Sword imbued with a flame enchantment. He grabs the blade examining it, he then turns around and hands it to her. She begins examining the blade's edge and weight.

"What's in here?" He says walking over to a closed wooden door, he flings it open. "Nothing, this must've been the fort commander's quarters."

Satisfied with the weapon she unsheathes her iron sword and tosses it across the room replacing it with the new blade. She follows him into the room and looks around.

"Not exactly a great view." She says still looking around the room.

He sits on the edge of the bed.

"Speak for yourself." He adds slyly.

She looks down at him and a small smile appears in the corner of her mouth.

"Really?" she says in an amused tone "And just what view are you talking about"

"I think you know what view I'm talking about."

She leans over and putting one knee on the bed for support.

"You're right, I do." She says placing her hands on his shoulders.

"I knew it was gonna end like this." He says.

"Oh, did you now?"

"As a matter of fact, I did."

She leans in and plants a kiss directly on his lips, she lingers for a moment letting her tongue wrap around his in a teasing manner as she pulls away she bites down on his lower lip tugging it before letting go then follows up with a second smaller kiss. She stops for a moment to remove her boots and bracers, seeing her do this he takes this chance to do the same.

"You planned this the whole time didn't you?" He asks smiling

"I had no intention of this when I started my day, it's you who started this and it's you who hired me back at the Drunken Huntsman."

"Ahh so you're saying it's my fault then."

"Lets just say that we're each at fault here." She says pushing his shoulders down and climbing on top of him.

" Fair enough."

She grabs onto the red cloth at the top of his armor and pulls him closer to her. She once again sticks her tongue into his mouth letting it wrap around his inside their locked lips, holding himself in place he returns the gesture with just as much enthusiasm. She pushes forward with her body once again paralleling him with the bed freeing her hands so that she could run them through his hair securing his head in place. As she holds him down he folds his arms around her lower back and tugs at the belt that fastens her armor in place, noticing what he wants she breaks her hold on him in order to loosen the belt so she can remove her armor. He reaches out to help loosen it, their hands fumble into each other as they both try to unclasp the buckle, finally the belt's bind on the armor is relaxed. They each grab onto the leather and lift it off over her head and toss it to the floor,he places his hands on her hips and slides them up her sides and to the front cupping her breast.

"What was it earlier that you said?" he smiles "Something about rubbing every inch of your body?"

"Not yet." She smirks

She reaches down and grabs onto the front plate of his armor pulling it upward, leaning forward he raises his arms as she slides the cuirass up and off of his body. She lets the armor drop off the side of the bed and hit the floor below, she leans down pressing her breast to his stomach as she nuzzles and kisses his neck. Her hands slither smoothly down his abdomen at a slow place until the finally come to rest on his waistline, her fingers glide across the leather strap that secures his pants in place before both hands finally meet in the middle and begin to unbind the strap. He wraps his arms wrap around her thighs letting each hand grasp a cheek giving them a light squeeze causing her to smirk at him. She disposes of the belt tossing it behind her and tugs his pants off of him. Now the two of them are left only in their smallclothes, with a last peck she brings her lips away from his neck. He looks up at her and she gives a big grin before leaning in close letting her mouth once again embrace his, his fingers spread across her back and reach downward gripping her waistline and plucking at it in an effort to remove her panties, she pulls away from the kiss and quickly slips them off. After tossing them to the side she returns to his lips as she does so he reaches around her thigh and starts to massage her folds. she lets out a small moan into his mouth. He caresses her opening letting his fingers occasionally dip in deeper which causes her to murmur in pleasure, she nestles her head into his neck, he decides to increase the effort and slips finger into her. She inhales sharply in titillation.

"You're quite skilled at this. You do this to all the women that accompany you on your journeys?"

"Only the very special ones."

She smiles at his last remark and his fingers slide deeper into her wet opening, another moan escapes her lips. She begins to pump her hips slowly, she clinches, squeezing and relaxing around his fingers bringing them a little deeper inside of her canal each time. She elevates herself in an effort to gain push down even more, he reaches his free hand up cupping and fondling her breast she reaches back and unties her bra letting it fall onto him. Much to her disappointment her pulls out of her so that both of his hands can grope her breasts, massaging and pinching her nipples, he squeezes them in his hand. She lets out a small laugh smiling as he plays with them, his rough hands clutching her soft perky bust. She had smooth skin for a warrior, her armor must've done quite a good job protecting this part of her body. Finally satisfied with her bouncy bosom his hands glide downward, following them with her eyes she awaits their arrival at her hopeful destination. They clutch her hips and reaches down to make the next move, she begins unwrapping his loin cloth as he watches her hands and face in anticipation. Pulling away the last stray fold she beholds his exposed manhood, gripping it in her hand her eyes raise to meet his. His red pupils watch eagerly awaiting her next move, her hand slides up and down the length slowly pumping it. As his eyes narrow with pleasure she increases the pace slightly, next she adjust herself in order to position her face closer to waist. watching him throw his head back in ecstasy she brings her face even closer, her hot breath tingles against him. Finally ready, she runs her tongue slowly from the base to the tip giving a hard lick at the end, he breathes in sharply.

"Again..." He manages to murmur

Complying with his wishes she once again runs her tongue up the shaft coming hard off of the ending, he gasps out of excitement and she decides to end the teasing. Slowly she takes him into her mouth carefully letting the entire length slide into her lips and down her throat as not to gag, he shakes a little and she holds the position for a few seconds before sliding him back out, her saliva envelopes his manhood leaving it a bit sticky. She brings him into her mouth again this time faster going about three quarters of the way done over and over again at a steady pace he reaches down gripping her hair as if she were trying to stop. She continues to take him in increasing the pace by just a little each time until she was ferociously plunging onto him while he clutched her locks in a death grip.

"your pace…. I won't be able to handle it much longer…" He gasped. As much as she enjoys having him at her mercy she wasn't ready to let him go just yet, unwillingly, she decreased pace and slid her lips from him. As she released him he let out a big breath of air he had been holding in, panting he sat up looking at her as she sits on her knees across from him with her arms tucked closely pushing her breasts outward. Ready for revenge he places his hands on her shoulders and pushes her back, he lays her down flat on the bed. Taking her legs in his hands he separates them exposing her dripping womanhood, he leans down bringing his face close to her heat. He casts his eyes upward towards hers, she lays there breathing slowly with her gaze fixed on him in anticipation he smiles and brings his eyes back to the task at hand. Wrapping his arms around her legs to hold her in place he he brings his face inches away from her, his deep warm breath tickles her sensitive skin. He moves in planting a small kiss on her lower lips making her purr in arousal, he then sticks out his tongue and runs it's entire length over wet folds letting it sink in just a little so that he can tease her. Next he brings his tongue around the edge of her canal licking the rim of the opening.

"Damn you…" she gasps "Why do you tease me so…?"

He smiles and continues to moisten her at steady pace, tasting her folds, savoring her sweetness with each stroke of the tongue all while torturing her with unbearable lust.

"Why?... Why are you going so slow?... Why are you torturing me…?" She asks desperately, he smiles and responds.

"Because I want you to want it….." he says in a sly tone "I want you to beg me for it…"

"Don't…" She manages to say

"Beg." He gives another hard so lick the seeps in.

"Alright…" she says in submission "Please…. I beg you to quicken your pace…. quicken it and end my torment….. please…"

"Very well."

He sticks his tongue in and slides it up and down the canal, tasting the walls and dipping in her juices as he goes. Her hands rest on top of his head stroking it as he goes, it brings it up to her cliteris making her moan loudly. Her reaches his tongue just below and wraps it around, he cradles her clit with his tongue which brings out an even bigger moan from the enraptured elven woman. Happy with her body language he continues to caress her tender spot with his tongue, he feels her pull his hair in an attempt to bring him even closer but he's already as close as possible. Her actions can only mean one thing, she's close to her climax just as he was when she had him pinned down, she arches her back in anticipation but is surprised at what happens next. Without warning he stops, her grip on him relaxes and he move up closer to her face, she is confused.

"Why did you make me beg if you were only going to stop? She asks

"Shhhhh." he says giving her a small kiss "I promise this next part will be even better." He smiles.

She watches him back away, he takes hold of her legs and positions himself in between them. Dragging her a little closer he readies himself.

"This is the part where I penetrate you with my sword" He says smiling.

'So that's what he meant' She thinks to herself.

Readying himself he grips his manhood and brings it to her folds, she watches waiting for him to start. He uses the tip to rub her womanhood heating it up even more but after a moment he begins pushing into her. She lets out a long moan as he passes the point where his fingers could not reach, he slowly begins to pump himself inside of her. Gripped by pleasure she wraps her legs tightly around his waist wanting him as close as possible, he continues to work his way deeper inside of her. The room has warmed up due to their immense heat being generated, their two bodies clashing into each other, though both are dunmer she is of a darker skin tone than him but the two greys complement each other just fine.

"By Azura, I wish I'd met you sooner." She gasps.

"Indeed, I should've come to Skyrim years ago." He says, panting over her luscious body. He reaches down and takes hold of her breasts, squeezing them in his hands. As he goes deeper and deeper he can feel her tightening around beckoning his to delve even deeper inside. Fondling her breasts as he pushes his way into her he can feel himself ready to burst but decides to try to hold it off until after her climax which by what he could tell was soon, she was moaning louder than ever and had been arching her back for a good while now. Finally she lets out a loud moan and spills her juices in ecstasy, after she finishes he lets go as well; however, he decides to pull out and spill his seed outside of her. Both dunmer are now out of breath and are staring at each other only a mere foot apart, smiling she reaches out and places a hand on his cheek caressing it softly. He smiles back at her and she leans forward and kisses him, not a lustful kiss like before but a soft tender kiss that leaves a sweet taste on the lips as it recedes. Exhausted, he lays on his back and shuts his eyes, not a moment later he feels her lay next to him with her head on his chest and her arm around his midsection. He smiles, content with his trip so far before finally dozing off.

The next morning he awakes in the same bed only, he is alone now. He sits up and looks around the room but there is no sight of his female companion from the night before, he hears a sound from the next room where they left the Orc corpse. He peers out the open doorway to see an old nord woman sweeping the floor carefully avoiding the large dead body.

"Hey You!" He shouts, she looks around confused

"You!" He shouts again, she looks at him.

"Have you seen a woman? she's a Dark Elf like me, well have you?" He shouts, she narrows her eyes at him and asks

"Who is oblivion are you?"

"Agggghhhh!" He growls in frustration. He hops out from under the furs forgetting he is naked but quickly remembers as soon as he does. The old nord woman blushes and looks away, he walks over and pulls the door shut. Looking around he gathers his clothes, he puts on his loincloth and pants and is searching for his armor when he notices a note on the table. picking it up he reads it to himself

_To my Favorite Patron,_

_My experience in your company yesterday was the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. I've had many patrons over the years but none have ever made me care for anything more than coin. But you… you are different, I have never met anyone else like in my entire life… you are special. So please... keep yourself safe… it can be a lonely thing, facing all the dangers of Skyrim by yourself but know this, should you ever miss my company come and find me in Whiterun. I will be more than happy to see you again, goodbye for now._

_-Jenassa_

He held the note in his hand a smiled as he read it over and over again.

'I have to see her again, just once more before I hit the road again…'


	4. Chapter 4: Goodbye for now

Pushing his way through the gates, Sarydos once again set foot in the the city of Whiterun. The sun shined bright as he made his way past down the street passing the Barracks towards the Drunken Huntsman, he placed his hand on the wooden door and pushed it open. He entered the shop, the Bosmer merchant looks up from the counter but turns his gaze back downward when Sarydos walks right past him. He crosses the room, heading for the other side of the room near the shop's other entrance where a Dunmer woman sits, by day before she had fought for his coin and by night had shown him an affection he had never before known. He walks up to her, seeing no other chair, he leans his back against the wall, she looks up at him and smiles.

"I had hoped you would come to see me again"

"How could I not?"

"Did you need something or did you just come by to see me?"

"Perhaps it's both."

"Oh?"

"You see, you stole something from me."

at this she was a little confused

"It wasn't your loincloth was it?"

"No no it wasn't that."

He assures her

"Then what is it that I stole from you?"

He looks down and a smile spreads across his face

"My heart…"

she smiles warmly at his response

and he continues

"So, seeing as you took stole something from me I think that it's only fair that I steal something from you."

"What is it that you're going to steal?"

he looks back up at her still smiling

"One last kiss before I leave Whiterun."

her smile fades as she looks at him

"Must you leave so soon? you've only just arrived…"

there is a hint of sadness in her voice.

His expression changes to a pained look, he frowns.

"I came to Skyrim three days ago now." he starts "I live modestly... like you I brandish my blade for coin… but I no longer wish to fight in petty skirmishes on the behalf of wealthy weaklings, I wish to fight for myself but for that I need to no longer rely on their purses so I seek my fortune lying in wait for me somewhere here in Skyrim." he looks into her eyes as he speaks "But I promise…. I promise that when I do find it, I shall return to claim you for myself."

her smile returns faintly as he finishes.

"Come closer."

she beckons

He leans in towards her, when he is close enough she grabs onto the front of his armor and pulls him into a kiss. Closing her eyes and pressing her lips to his, she releases her passion onto him while intensely holding his lips prisoner. Her arms drape over his shoulders and her fingers slip into his hair, petting his head. He returns her affection, as she does this he brings himself into a kneeling position before her and wraps his arms around her lower back wanting to hold her as close as possible. she slowly draws her face away from his.

"You know, something occurred to me when I awoke this morning."

she says

"Really? And what would that be?"

he asks

"I don't even know your name…"

she says.

he stares at her face for a moment studying her features before answering

"It's Sarydos…. Sarydos Tervandes…"

She runs her fingers down the side of his face, softly caressing his cheek with her fingers

"Never has a name sounded sweeter to my ears…. you had better come back to me Sarydos…. when you find your fortune, you better come back to me…."

He nods and places a small kiss on her hand before standing up to go. As she watches him turn and leave, tears roll down her cheeks.

"Please….. please be safe…."

she whispers under her breath.

Having seen the whole thing, the bosmer merchant watches from behind the counter as Sarydos passes by him again, he is completely lost for words and not sure what to think of the spectacle that he just witnessed. He looks over at Jenassa.

"Jenassa, are you… are you crying?"

"Shut up Elrindir…."

she murmurs as she wipes away her tears, smearing her face paint.

The path ahead is set through the front gate of Whiterun, as he walks his head hangs downward and his face carries no expression, leaving Whiterun… leaving her... was without a doubt the hardest thing he ever had to do. He did his best to fight back the tears forming in his eyes, he didn't want to cry but he felt like he needed to. He wanted to hit himself in an effort to physically fight the heartache, some irrational side of his mind told him that it was possible but he knew this feeling couldn't be solved with brute force or magic so he simply clenched his fist and grinded his teeth. Anyone who saw the expression on his face would swear that he was in pain, that he was injured in some way and they would be right or at least partially right, he felt injured to say the least. At the moment all he could do was hope that he found his fortune soon so that he could return to her. Pushing the gates open he steps outside of Whiterun, every step he put between the two of them felt wrong but he had to. Taking a deep breath and releasing it he starts again on his journey, once again he passes by the group of Khajiit camped outside of Whiterun.

Trying to put his sadness behind him, he lifts his head up high in an attempt to mask his pain. Even though he felt horrible he could try to look like a proud warrior, at least for now while the nords could still see him, the last thing he wanted was for the Whiterun guardsmen to sit around in a circle laughing and talking about that crying dark elf they saw walking down the road today. He approached the carriage by the Whiterun stables, he wasn't completely aimless in his journey he had an idea. On his way to Whiterun the nord who had driven him told him a lot about skyrim but one thing in particular caught his attention, In an western Skyrim, an area called "The Reach" there was an awful lot of conflict between the nords and a group of Breton called "The Forsworn" and that these conflicts were often bloody. Sarydos figured that the nords of the Reach probably hated the Forsworn, enough so that they would pay large amounts of gold to anyone willing to fight the Forsworn on their behalf. He simply needed to find someone willing to pay him to kill Forsworn and he would be making loads of coin in no time. Hopeful that his idea would work he paid the Carriage driver to take him to Markarth.

_Author's note: I know this chapter is pretty short; However I felt it was necessary for the story. You see, I had originally meant for what was between Sarydos and Jenassa to be just a sexual thing but as I continued to write it I felt that the their relationship went deeper than that so I wanted to add this part of the story to show the emotional connection between the two. I feel that it also gives Sarydos that extra motivation to continue on his adventure and find his fortune so that he could return triumphantly to Jenassa. Thanks for reading and rest assured that more chapters are on the way, please review this chapter and any of the previous ones to tell me what you think of the story so far. _


	5. Chapter 5: Markarth's Problems

Markarth; once called Nchuand-Zel by the deep elves is the capital of the Reach and the next stop in Sarydos' journey, after another tiring carriage ride even longer than the last one Sarydos finally spies the famous city of stone. The walls of Markarth reach high and solid, much more so than those of both Whiterun and Windhelm. Fairly impressed, Sarydos inspects the outer defenses of the great city: Strong wall, Numerous watch towers, superior position… Sarydos imagines that it would prove quite difficult for an army to ever take this city, indeed the Dwemer build their cities to last. Hopping off of the carriage, Sarydos begins making his way to the Markarth city gates, he passes up the stables and a watch tower before reaching the hard stone steps that mark the way into the city. He makes his way up the steps towards the main gate, as he passes the guard greets him.

"Welcome to Markarth, Traveler. Safest city in the reach."

Sarydos pushes open the large dwemer gates with both hands and steps into the city. He now stands in the Marketplace of the city, there are two vendors with stands, a General store, and across a small man-made creek there is an Inn. It may be morning but the market has it's fair share of early customers browsing wares and carrying on their small talk. Suddenly the peaceful morning is brought to an end.

"The Reach belongs to the Forsworn!"

a Breton man shouts just before he plunges his knife into a nearby woman.

Sarydos watches as woman falls to the ground dead, instinctively, he draws his sword and charges the Breton. The man raises his arm in an attempt to shield his face and neck for the blade only to lose it, the severed arm flops to the ground spilling blood across the stone. He screams in pain and Sarydos slashes at him again this time slicing open the side of his neck, unable to continue he tumbles over to the ground, blood runs down the street.

"I…. I die for my people…"

the man manages to choke out as he breathes his final breaths.

Sarydos walks away from the scene as the guards arrive to calm the crowd, as he does he notices another Breton approaching him, he keeps one hand on his blade just in case.

"Gods. A woman attacked right on the streets. Are you all right? Did you see what happened?"

Sarydos stares at the Breton for a moment as he debates whether or not he is stupid.

"Yes, I was right there the whole time."

he answers

"I'm so sorry. I hope the Eight give you more peace in the future."

the man apologizes, he sounds quite sincere

"You should feel sorry for that woman, not me."

as he starts to walk away again the man suddenly stops him again.

"Oh, I think you dropped this. Some kind of note. Looks important."

he hands him the note, Sarydos looks down at the note then back up, he means to question the man about the incident but the Breton hurries off before he gets the chance. As he continues down the street he unfolds the note to read it

_Meet me at the shrine of Talos._

That's all it says, not sure where the shrine is Sarydos turns around deciding to head the same way the Breton did, hoping he will lead him there. Though Sarydos worships "The Reclamations", the three Daedric Gods of the Dunmer "Talos" is a name that he is familiar with. Once one of the Imperial gods, the worship of Talos was banned after the signing "White-Gold Concordat" at the end of the great war, seeing that he was technically in Imperial territory he wasn't just going to ask random strangers where to find the nearest shrine of Talos, that would attract far too much attention to him. rounding the corner, Sarydos spots the breton rounding a corner and heading up the stone steps. Quickly he follows to the same spot trying to keep up with the man, he runs up the step and rounds another corner into a stone tunnel. He catches a glimpse of the man going into a door so he follows. Opening the door he peers down a stone hallway, at the end of the hallway is a statue of a bearded man with a sword and leaning against one of the stone pillars is the Breton from before. Sarydos steps into hallway, quietly closing the door behind him. The Breton watches him as he approaches

"I'm sorry to drag you into Markarth's problems but after that attack in the market, I'm running out of time."

he says when Sarydos is close enough.

"You're an outsider. You're dangerous-looking. You'll do."

"'I'll Do'? What are you talking about."

Sarydos asks

"you want answers? Well so do I. So does everyone in this city." he starts "A man goes crazy in the market. Everyone knows he's a Forsworn agent. Guards do nothing. Nothing but clean up the mess."

"You want me to find out why."

"This has been going on for years. And all I've been able to find is murder and blood. I need help."

Sarydos looks at him in silence.

"Please. Find out why that woman was attacked, Who's behind Weylin and the Forsworn, and I'll pay you for any information you bring me."

"What do you know about the woman who was attacked?"

Sarydos asked deciding to help the man.

"She's not from Markarth. The Air about her screamed 'Outsider.'" he recalls "Visitors to the city usually stay at the Silver-Blood Inn."

Wanting to get a little more background on the Forsworn, Sarydos decides to ask the man about them.

"Who are the Forsworn?"

"They're remnants of the old rulers of Markarth. Natives of the Reach. Followers of the Old Ways. The Nords drove them out of the city. Ulfric Stormcloak and his men. That was about 20 years ago. But somehow they're still here, and they're killing people."

When he hears the name "Ulfric Stormcloak" his blood begins to boil as he conjures images of the Grey Quarter's filth and squalor. Sarydos nods and begins to head out, as he leaves the man offers one final piece of advice.

"Keep your eyes and ears open."

Sarydos exited the shrine determined to get to the bottom of this, no matter what he thought these circumstances just didn't add up. There was just too many things out of place, and the people of Markarth needed to hear the truth. He thought back on the conversation he had in the shrine, he could tell that this wasn't just about conspiracy theories. He could see that this was personal to that Breton, something had happened to him or someone he knew but Sarydos wasn't going to ask about his personal connection to this, he knew it would probably be too painful for the man to talk about. He walked hastily down the street towards the entrance of the city where he had seen the Inn. When he arrived at the marketplace the guards had already cleaned up the blood and taken the bodies away, as if nothing had ever happened. As he passed by some of the guards watched him, their heads following his movements as he entered the Silver-Blood Inn. He walks in and approaches the front counter, behind it is an older, shabby Nord with a large bald spot on the top of his head and long tattered grey-white hair hanging from the sides of his head.

"Come on in. The Silver-Blood has plenty of strong drinks and clean rooms."

"Did the woman who was killed today stay here?"

Sarydos asked

"Ah, yes. rented the nicest room we had for a whole month."

The nord said, placing a bottle of mead in front of a patron.

"Best all forget about her. Bad luck to talk about the dead in Markarth."

he says

Sarydos was a little suspicious of that last comment, This whole city felt wrong to him.

"I need the key to the room, I need to look around."

The nord stop what he's doing and stares at Sarydos for a moment.

"IIII'mmm…. afraid I can't allow that."

he finally says

"Why not?"

" The last thing I want is to stir up trouble, especially when it involves the Forsworn…"

the whispers angrily

Sarydos leans closer.

"Come on. I won't tell anyone, I just need to look around. Don't you want answers about what's happening in Markarth? Don't you want the truth?"

The nord stops to think for a moment as if conflicted about what to do, but after several a while he speaks up.

"Well, you seem like the honest sort. Here you are."

He places the key on the counter and Sarydos quickly takes it before anyone notices.

Sarydos turns and heads for the room that the Innkeeper had indicated earlier, when he reaches the end of the hallway he sticks the key into the slot and turns it, he hears the metallic click of the locking mechanism and slowly pushes open the door. It is a decent sized room, across from the door is a stone bed with a dark fur draped over it in a futile effort to make it more comfortable for guests. Next to the bed is a small wooden end table, He opens the top drawer to find a small red journal, he quickly takes it and opens it, after a bit of reading he learns that the woman was sent to Markarth by a man referred to as "General Tullius" to investigate a local nord named Thonar Silver-Blood. Satisfied, he sticks the Journal into his bag and heads out of the room, locking the door behind him. As he makes his way to the main room he stops the Innkeeper once again to return the key.

"Thank you, I found what I needed. Here's your key back."

"Uh, sure. Give it quickly before anyone sees."

He hands over the key then proceeds to exit through the front door, when he steps outside he notices a city guard heading towards him.

"You. I've seen you snooping around. Asking questions. Back off. You don't want to know what happens to troublemakers here."

The Guard snarls, angrily

"I'm no troublemaker, Nord."

Sarydos sneers back

"You're finding it. That's bad enough."

"I suggest you stop trying to bully me. You're nearly as intimidating as you think you are."

Sarydos replies with no fear of this bloated fetcher.

"We'll see."

He says

Sarydos begins to walk away.

"This is your last warning outsider. We keep the peace, here. Stay out of our business."

Sarydos disregards his warning and continues on to the Shrine of Talos, when he reaches it he pushes the heavy door open and proceeds down the hallway towards the Breton. When he sees Sarydos, the Breton is anxious to see what evidence he has found, Sarydos tosses him the journal.

"The woman Margret, was sent By General Tullius to investigate Thonar Silver-Blood."

"So the clues point to the Treasury House, then. That makes sense. Thonar is involved in every facet of the city. Here's the gold I promised." He tosses Saydos a bag of Septims. "Keep following the trail and there will be more in it for you."

He nods and heads back out into the city, He stops a nearby civilian to inquire about the Treasury house's location and after receiving proper direction he makes his way there. He opens the door and steps inside the treasury, noticing how much nicer it is than the local inn, he walks up to the counter. Standing behind the counter is a young brown-haired Breton woman in a low-cut tavern dress, the type usually worn by serving girls at the Inn in an effort to entice a larger tip.

"I'm sorry. We're only interested in helping our patrons."

She states snobbishly as he nears the counter.

Ignoring her he proceeds with his business.

"I need to see Thonar Silver-Blood."

"I'm afraid he's asked not to be disturbed."

she says, rolling her eyes.

Annoyed by the girls attitude, he leans closer.

"I wasn't asking."

he growls, she backs away a bit.

"Go….. go right ahead then… don't let me keep you."

she says fearfully, her eyes wide.

He proceeds behind the counter, she flinches as he passes by but he just keeps going towards the back room, He swings the door open hard causing it to crash loudly against the stone wall. Alarmed, the Nordic man sitting in the chair jerks his head to the side to catch site of the cause of this commotion. Sarydos approaches him menacingly.

"What are you doing here? I told them no visitors."

he snarls

Sarydos grabs the man up by his shirt and lifts him from the chair.

"I've uncovered your scheme Silver-Blood! You nothing but a sniveling little skeever and I have you now!"

"Unhand me, outsider trash!"

Thonar protests

"Did you really think your pansy guards would scare me aware, Thonar!?"

he yells

"What did you expect? That no one was going to notice you butting into business that wasn't yours? The guards know who holds the purse strings in this city, and I don't like snoops. Markarth is my city. You have no right looking into my business. Now get out."

Thornar snarls

Their conversation is suddenly interrupted by a loud scream, Sarydos drops Thonar and rushes out into the treasury's main chamber. When he arrives he finds Betrid Silver-Blood lying dead of the floor in a puddle of her own blood. The elderly serving woman charges him with a dagger which he easily deflects.

"What? By the gods, Betrid..., Betrid. No! We had a deal you Forsworn bastards!", "Traitors. Traitors all of you!"

Thonar cries as he runs over to his wife's corpse.

Sarydos stabs the woman through the stomach and turns his head towards the opposite side of the room to see the young woman from earlier being chased by a man with a dagger, he rushes over to intercept the attacker. Crashing into him from the side, Sarydos pins the man to the wall and shoves a blade into his gut. He lets him fall to the ground and bleed out. He turns back the other way, the woman has taken cover behind the counter and Thonar kneels next to his wife's body with his head down.

"Why? We had a deal Madanach. A deal!"

he yells.

Sarydos approaches him

"You deserve this."

he sneers

"Shut up. Only the gods can judge me."

he snarls as he stands up and wipes his eyes.

"Are you finally ready to tell me the truth?"

"Fine. You want to know what the Forsworn really are? They're my puppets. I have their 'king' rotting in Cidhna Mine. He was supposed to keep them under control." he begins. "While we were off fighting the Elves in the Great War, Madanach was busy ruling over the Reach. Until Ulfric came and put them down."

Sarydos listens as he continues explaining.

"When their uprising was crushed, I had Madanach brought to me. He was a wild animal, but a useful one. I offered him a stay from execution if he used his influence to deal with any annoyances that came up. Competitors, agents, idiots. So I've let him run his little Forsworn rebellion from inside Cidhna Mine. Now he's out of control."

Sarydos shakes his head is disgust, he's heard enough from this slippery Nord, it's time to go tell the Breton what he's learned. He heads towards the door without looking back. As he passes the Breton girl he watches him, still a bit afaid.

"Thank you."

She whispers as he passes her up, even though she fears him she was still grateful to him for saving her life. Ha simply ignores her and continues out the door, when outside he quickly heads off to the shrine of Talos to relay this information and obtain his reward. He jogs up the steps and turns down the narrow tunnel towards the door, he pushes it open and begins to descend down the hall towards the shrine but stops in his tracks. There at the foot of the hall is the Breton man, he lays slain at the feet of three Markarth guards.

'They ambushed him… three on one, how cowardly."

he thinks to himself

"We warned you, but you just had to go and cause trouble. Now we have to pin all these recent murders on you. Silence witnesses. Work. Work. Work."

one of the Guards speaks up in an annoyed tone, Sarydos looks down at the body then back up at the Guard.

"What did you do to him."

he asks

"Same thing we do with all the other natives who want to change things around here. We had a nice little deal going between Thonar and Madanach until you and Eltrys started snooping around. Well, you wanted to find the man responsible for those killings? You'll have plenty of time with the King in rags when you're in Cidhna mine."

"You're corrupt. Thonar is paying you."

"We have a nice arrangement in this city, and we're not letting you get in the way. You have a problem with that? Take it up with Madanach. I'm sure the King in rags and his Forsworn would love to meet you. Now you're coming with us. It's a life sentence in Cidhna Mine for you."

Sarydos glares at the guards, His rage begins to boil inside of him.

"You're not taking me alive!"

he shouts at them.

"You'll never leave Markarth!"

the guard shouts back.

Sarydos draws his sword and the guards do the same, hoping backwards, Sarydos swings on the first guard, slashing him across the chest. The Guard howls in pain gripping at his wound, his armor offered no protection against the enchanted blade. Another guard is slashed across the forearm when he reaches out to grab Sarydos, the third swings forward and misses. As the guard stumbles forward, Sarydos ignites a firebolt in his hand and shoves it into the guards helm, temporarily blinded he falls to his knees and Sarydos brings the sword down into his back. The first guard charges forward but receives only a slice across the upper arm, he drops his sword unable to hold it, his wound it deep. Sarydos leaps behind him and pushes the blade through the back of his throat. The last guard is still recovering and is trying to stand up when he is impaled through the stomach. Sarydos turns around and rushes away towards the door, leaving the shrine in a damned bloody mess. He slams open the door and rushes down the city steps towards the marketplace, his blade soaked in Nordic blood. He runs towards all the people in the market shouting.

"Lies! Lies! The Silver-Bloods are behind the Forsworn attacks in the city!" he spins around looking at everyone "The City Guard is Corrupt! They're in Thonar Silver-Bloods pocket! He killed Eltrys and Margret!"

The guards rush up and surround him.

"Halt. You're under arrest for murder and conspiracy against the city of Markath!"

"I did no such thing! You tell these people the truth!"

He yells back at the Guard.

You're the one who conspired with the Forsworn against Markarth! You're coming with me, murderer!"

"Liar! You're the Murderers! Tell these People about Thonar! About Madanach!" he looks to the crowd "I'm being framed! Framed by the guards! Framed by the Silver-Bloods!"

"You aren't fooling me. Trusted witnesses have seen you commit several murders. And there are accounts of your suspicious behavior throughout the city. Now come quietly."

His eyes look to the crowd once more. He had hoped his words would win them over, that they would inspire the people to demand the truth but as he looked into each of their eyes he saw only fear and confusion. They were used to cooperating with the Markarth Guards, to following them blindly. They were too afraid to want the truth and too in denial to accept it, to them, he was just a raving lunatic.

"Fine…."

he says finally, sheathing his sword.

"You'll never see the sun again. No one escapes Cidhna Mine. No one."


	6. Chapter 6: The King in Rags

It's cold in Cidhna mine….

damp, dark, and dirty. Sarydos stands just inside the Mine/Prison, His palms wrapped around the cold Iron bars, he stares outward as the guards walk by each of which follow their own pattern back and forth. Every now and a guard will stop a take a look at him just standing there, probably wondering what he's doing. Garbed in nothing but rags, Sarydos no longer looks like the proud Dunmer he is. The dusty air gives him a slight cough every from time to time and the mine's chill brushes against his skin. Now more than ever does he wish he was back in Whiterun with Jenassa, resting in a soft bed, their bodies lying intertwined, pressed closely to her warmth… What he would give for such a thing.

"Are you just going to stand there until you collapse from hunger?"

after a few second he turns his head to see who is speaking.

Across the mine's main chamber sits a Breton by a small fire, he wears only a pair of ragged pants and his long grey dirty ponytail hangs down his back, there are dark circles under his eyes and he is extremely thin, so much so that his most of his bones are visible through his shin. Sarydos walks down the wooden ramp and over towards the fire. He settles down by the fire across from the Breton.

"What are you in for, new blood?"

he asks

"Nothing. I'm innocent"

Sarydos replies staring into the fire.

"Innocent? So was I, for the first one. The other murders were all me, though." he says "My advice? Serve your time at the pickaxe and get out. You don't want to end up getting a shiv in the guts over a bottle of Skooma."

Sarydos looks up at the Breton from the fire.

"I need to speak with Madanach."

he says

"If you're asking, that means you're the new lifer. Tough luck, friend. Those guards sold you out but good. No one talks to Madanach, I'm afraid. Not without getting past Borkul the Beast... And you don't want to talk to Borkul the Beast."

he speaks with the same sly tone he's had the entire conversation.

Sarydos looks over towards the wall to see a large Orc with skull facepaint guarding a cage door that leads to a tunnel. Nodding in reply to the breton, Sarydos lifts himself onto his feet and heads towards the Orc. Seeing him spproach from the corner of his eye, the Orc turns towards him.

"The new meat. So soft. Tender."

he chuckles. Unafraid, Sarydos continues to him.

What was it like killing your first one, huh?"

Borkul asks

"I didn't kill anyone… well, at least not the people I was accused of killing… Some of them, that is…"

"Liar."

is his only response.

"I need to see Madanach."

Sarydos states

"You want to talk to the King in Rags? Fine. But first you got to pay the toll. How about you get me a shiv? Not that I need one, but it's nice to have in case I need to do some "shaving."

He laughs

"I don't have one."

"Then find one." He snarls "That dung heap Grisvar's been known to make a few."

Eager to see Madanach, he heads down the indicated tunnel until he comes across two prisoners mining, one Breton the other is a Nord. "Grisvar" sounding like a Nord name, Sarydos approaches the Nord.

"Are you Grisvar?"

he asks

"Huh?! yeah… why?"

the Nord says startled and suspicious of the new prisoner.

"I need a Shiv."

"Wanna keep yourself safe, huh? I've got an extra but it's not free. Get me some Skooma and it's yours."

"Where would I get some Skooma?"

"Duach has some. He's over that way." he points "See if you can convince him to part with it. Do that and I'll have your shiv for you."

Sarydos heads in the opposite direction back through the main chamber and down the opposite tunnel. Stayinng on the path leads him to another Breton.

"Are you Duach?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I hear you have Skooma. I need it."

He stares at Sarydos for a moment

"That's not going to happen."

Sarydos decides to ask nicely for a change.

"Please, I need it badly…"

Duach looks at Sarydos again and decides to give it to him

"Getting the shakes, huh? All right. Take it. Old gods keep you."

"Thanks."

He says as he rushes off back to the other tunnel.

He reaches Grisvar.

"Here's your Skooma."

"And here's your shiv, just promise never to use it on me, ok?"

Feeling ridiculous running back and forth fetching things, Sarydos heads back to Borkul the Beast.

"Here's your shiv."

"All right, head on in. But don't try anything in there. Madanach is smarter than you think."

Borkul opens the cage door and Sardos begins to make his way down the dirty tunnel, after about a minute he finds himself in a small dirt room with a bed and a chest. Next to the bed is a table and chair, sitting at the table is a man, not very impressive in size or appearance. But seeing how there is no one else in the room, Sarydos concludes that this is Madanach. As Sarydos approaches the man he speaks up.

"Well, well. Look at you. The Nords have turned you into an animal. A wild beast caged up and left to go mad."

He turns around to face Sarydos, He is an older Breton with thick White hair braided in several places and a thick bushy mustache that almost conceals his mouth as he speaks. His Face is dirty and wrinkled, Sarydos could only imagine what hes been through.

"So, my fellow beast, what do you want? Answers about the Forsworn? Revenge for trying to have you killed?"

Sarydos looks over the man for a moment before responding.

"I Want my freedom."

Madanach stands up out of his chair to fully face Sarydos.

"Your freedom? Yes. But even if you were to escape Cidhna Mine, your name would still be stained with all that blood."

Realizing that Madanach is right, Sarydos carefully weighs the options in his head and decides that if he is going to have any chance of getting out of Cidhna mine… out of Markarth he was going to have to work with Madanach and the Forsworn.

"Can you help me?"

at this Madanach laughs.

"Can I? of course I can but I think the correct question is will I?

"Alright then, Will you help me?"

Madach looks Sarydos over and after a moment responds.

"You're one of us now, you see? A slave. The boot of the Nord stepping on your throat. Maybe if you understood that, I could help you." He clears his throat then continues.

"There's a man named Braig inside these mines. Besides me, he's been here the longest. Tell him I sent you. Ask him why he's here. I want you to know how widespread the injustice of Markarth is."

Sarydos turns around and heads back down the tunnel asking Borkul where to find Braig, once he is pointed in the right direction he makes his way past Grisvar and another Breton mining. He finally reaches the end of the tunnel and finds another old Breton there mining silver.

"Are you Braig?"

The man stops mining, he turns towards Sarydos still gripping his pick axe firmly in case of trouble.

"Yeah why?"

he asks

"Madanach sent me, He wants me to hear your story."

"My story, huh?" he asks, setting his pick axe down and taking a seat on a nearby rock. "Everyone in Cidhna Mine has a tale. Let's hear yours first. When was the first time you felt chains around your wrists?"

"This was the first time."

Sarydos says, slightly embarrassed at his lack of experience when it came to being arrested.

"Then it's all fairly new to you, huh?" he says "It doesn't matter whether you've been there once or a hundred times, the feeling never gets any better."

He puts his hands together letting his fingers lock before continuing.

"I had a daughter, once. She'd be 23 this year. Married to some hot-headed silver worker or maybe on her own learning the herb trade." He begins. "The Nords didn't care who was and who wasn't involved in the Forsworn Uprising. I had spoken to Madanach once, that was enough."

He stops for a moment before continuing

"But my little Aethra…" he says, his voice getting a bit higher, noticeably upset by the story. "She didn't want to see her papa leave her. She pleaded to the Jarl to take her instead."

Tears begin to flow down his face mixing with the dirt.

"And after they made me watch as her head rolled off the block…. they, they threw me in here anyway, to dig up their silver."

As he finishes he wipes away his tears in an effort to conceal his pain. Sarydos just stand there, he can't believe just how cruel the Nords could be. he struggles to find the right words.

"I'm… I'm sorry to hear that…"

"My daughter is the one who needs your sympathy…. I'm just a poor Forsworn who's only regret is not killing more Nords before I was locked up…"

He turns his back to Sarydos, picking up his pick axe, and returns to his mining. Shocked by what he had just heard, Sarydos quietly walks away from the man and back to Madanach. When he arrives Madanach is still at his desk writing.

"I've spoken to Braig."

Madanach stops writing.

"Have you?"

he asks, putting his quill in the inkwell

"Yeah."

"Imagine hearing a story like that, over and over. Each time a different family…. Each time a different injustice."

He leans his head downward for a moment.

"Your meddling above ground reminded me of how removed I've been from the struggle." He says looking back up. "My men and I should be in the hills, fighting."

"Does this mean you'll help me escape?"

Madanach turns his head to look at Sarydos and after a moment he answers.

"Yes, but I need a show of loyalty from you. I don't need a shiv in the back while we break out."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Have you met Grisvar the Unlucky?" He starts " He's rightly named, and he's also a thief and a snitch. He's outlived his minor usefulness. Take care of him, and then we can leave Cidhna Mine for good."

"Ok but I'll need a Shiv."

"Ah, Borkul muscle one out of you on your way in? Fine. Take this one."

He reaches into his desk and pulls out a shiv then turns around handing to Sarydos. Sarydos takes the shiv then leaves to take care of Grisvar so he can escape. Sarydos had no reason to hate Grisvar but if he was ever going to get out of there so he could finish his search and return to Jenassa, Grisvar would have to die. Rounding the corner with shiv in hand Sarydos finally found Grisvar, he was in the same place as before still mining silver. Sarydos readied himself, sneaking up close to Grisvar. Suddenly he acted, putting a hand over Grisvar's mouth to muffle the screams he shoved the shiv deep into Grisvar's side. Panicking, Grisvar tried to escape but his struggling was in vain as he was stabbed repeatedly. The prisoner next to Grisvar was also surprised, When the attack started he leapt away from Grisvar and held up the Pick axe in defence but lowered it when he realized what was happening now he just stood there watching as the stabbing unfolded. Piercing flesh over and over again the shiv was flinging blood everywhere, Grisvar's body trembled and his legs grew weak at the loss of blood. Letting Grisvar drop to the ground to die, Sarydos made his way back to Madanach, blood covered his ragged clothes and the shiv. As he walked by many of the Breton prisoners as well as Borkul the Beast watched him carefully. He made his way down the tunnel back to Madanach's chamber.

"It's done, Grisvar is dead."

"You've finally become one of us. Come with me." He said, getting up from his seat. "I think it's time I announced my plans to you and your new brothers, though they've probably already figured it out."

Sarydos and Madanach walked back to the main chamber where the Forsworn prisoners had already gathered awaiting Madanach. The thin Breton with the ponytail from earlier was the first to speak.

"What's going on, Madanach? You wouldn't have old Grisvar killed unless you weren't planning on needing him."

Madanach smiled at this.

"My brothers, we have been here long enough. It's time to leave Cidhna Mine and continue our fight against the Nords." He announced to all of them. "Through this gate, just beside my quarters, is a tunnel. A tunnel that leads right through the old Dwarven ruins of Markarth, into the city. Well, what do you say, my brothers?"

"The Reach belong to the Forsworn!"

they shouted together in reply.

As they began funneling through the gate to the escape tunnel, Madanach turned to Sarydos.

"I say you've earned an early pardon. Let's go."

They follow the other prisoners through the Dwarven tunnels cutting down Frostbite Spiders and Dwarven Mechanisms as they went, till' they finally reached the end of the tunnel. When they got to the door, there was a Breton woman standing in front of it. She was clad in Furs and bone and her face was decorated with tribal patterns, Madanach approached her.

"Madanach. I've brought what you asked for."

she says

"Good work. Get ready while I have a word with our favorite outsider."

The other prisoners start getting dressed in fur armor similar to the woman's, Madanach approaches Sarydos.

"I had Kaie recover all the things the Nords stole from you. You better get ready before we break out into the city. And take this. It's blessed with the old magicks. Something to remember me by. Time to finally see the sky, and make it rain red."

He says handing Sarydos a set of fur/bone armor. Sarydos begins putting the armor on.

"What happens now?"

He asks as he puts on the armor.

"Now? I announce to all of Markarth that I have returned. Don't worry about your name. They'll know who to blame and fear after today."

Sarydos looks at the headdress Madanach handed him, putting it on should hide his face and hopefully keep people from recognizing him, He puts it on.

"It'll take years, but I'll organize the Forsworn again. We'll reclaim our land, and then, when power is ours, we'll have peace. A kingdom. Until then, let me offer you a warning. Beware the Forsworn. No place in the Reach is safe from us now."

Madanach says.

Sarydos simply nods in response and they head out the door. When they emerge from the tunnel it is late in the afternoon, the sun is setting and many people had started to head home. The Forsworn are met there at the door by none other than Thonar Silver-Blood and a number of Markarth Guardsmen.

"Madanach? What's going on here?"

Thonar demands an answer.

Madanach makes his way to the front of the group while Sarydos stays near the back.

"We're escaping!" He proclaims "You've poisoned the Reach with your tainted silver for long enough, Thonar!"

After this Madanach lunges forward armed with a Ebony War-Axe, he lands his attack right on mark. The War-Axe spits open Thonar's head killing him instantly, the battle has begun. The Forsworn easily cut through the group of guards, They make their way through the city hacking up Guardsmen as they go. Spells and arrows fly through the air and civilians run for cover. Bodies litter the street as they fight their way to the main gates, Panic ensues as nordic blood runs down the stone streets of Markarth and the Forsworn finally reach the front gates. They burst through the gates cutting down the two guards there as they all rush out of the city and into the wilds of the Reach. Sarydos isn't sure where the Forsworn will lead him but anywhere is better than Cidhna Mine….


	7. Chapter 7: The Letter

Past the rocky hills and gnarled trees, Sarydos continued down the dirt paths and cobblestone roads of the Reach, Though Sarydos could return to Markarth, thanks to Madanach taking the blame for the murders, he'd rather not see the city of stone ever again. After escaping Cidhna mine with the Forsworn, Sarydos gave thanks to the Reachmen wishing them well on their quest to reclaim their homeland before departing to continue his own quest. Now he was on his way to leave the Reach as soon as possible, heading North along the road on his way to Solitude. Since leaving Madanach's camp, Sarydos had come across other Forsworn gatherings, At first they tried to attack him but when they notice the Necklace crafted from Nord bones hanging around his neck they left him alone, it had been a gift from Madanach and it was a symbol that Sarydos was a friend of the king in rags and therefore a friend to the Forsworn. Although Madanach had been imprisoned for 20 years, he still had influence with the Forsworn and the all the native sons and daughters of the reach. From Madanach's camp the easiest way out of the reach was to head for Dragon Bridge, a small settlement just outside of the Reach. He could see an old fort on the other side of the bridge, He was still technically in the Reach so it was probably occupied by Forsworn. He made sure the necklace was visible for when they rushed out to attack him but as he drew near he saw something, something laying in the road. It was a body as he moved closer to examine it he saw that it was a woman, she wore the armor of the Forsworn and been Hacked open. He knelt down to look closer, as he did someone emerged from the fort, Sarydos turned his head towards the door to see a warrior. He was definitely not Forsworn, he wore steel plated Armor and carried a mighty dwarven battle axe strapped to his back. The tail and the horns are a dead giveaway, It's an Argonian. He approaches Sarydos.

"You're too late, I've already killed them all. That bounty is mine."

Sarydos stands up, still looking at the dead body.

"You killed them? All of them?"

"That's right, The Jarl is offering quite a reward."

"Is that so?"

"Indeed, I've been killing Forsworn for months."

Sarydo looks at the Argonian.

"Really?"

The Argonian notices the necklace around Sarydos' neck and begins reaching over his shoulder towards the Battle Axe, Noticing the Argonians movements, Sarydos quickly unsheathes his sword preparing himself for battle.

"You should've stayed in Morrowind, Dark Elf."

"You mean what's left of Morrowind."

"Don't worry, my people will come to claim the rest of it soon enough."

"We'll see about that."

The Argonian lets out a deep threatening hiss in an attempt to frighten Sarydos but it is to no avail as Sarydos merely narrows his eyes in anger ready to slay the lizard at a moments notice. The Argonian lunges forward bringing the Battle Axe down in a hard swing but Sarydos steps out of the way letting it crash onto the ground.

"You should leave the Battle Axes to the Nords and Orcs."

"Shut up!"

"You're so slow, are you sure you're the one who killed these Forsworn?"

"What are you implying?"

"That they died laughing at your pathetic performance in battle."

The Argonian lifts the large battle axe of the off the ground swinging it behind his shoulders readying it for another strike, he swings it with all his might but Sarydos steps just outside of it's reach as it meets nothing but air and he stumbles forward. Seeing an opportunity Sarydos lunges forward in the hope that he can land a strike on the Argonian.

"Clumsy Argonian, you've left yourself open."

but as he moves in for the attack the Argonian delivers a quick headbutt to the stomach, it doesn't hurt too much but it pushes him back, the Argonian turns over the axe and swings it upward. The head of the axe slices through the chitin armor and tears open the flesh of Sarydos' forearm, gripping the wound Sarydos backs up. Assessing the situation, he realizes his mistake which is likely the same mistake the Forsworn made: while his initial attacks may be sluggish this Argonian has an extremely fast reaction time, the Forsworn were probably over-confident and charged in for a easy kill only to be slaughtered by his reaction time. Sarydos takes a moment to examine his opponent and notices the glow of the Argonian's armor, seeing as he regularly faces down Forsworn it is likely an enchantment to protect against magic attacks. Sarydos realized that he would need a plan in order to defeat the Argonian, he backs up putting more space in between them and begins piecing together an idea in his head. He steps off the path and begins moving into the hills of the Reach, around large rocks and gnarled pointy bushes. Not wanting to lose sight of his opponent the Argonian begins trotting after him into the wilds.

"Where are you?"

He sniffs the air to catch Sarydos' scent.

Having caught the scent he makes his way around the boulders after the Dunmer, but as he rounds the corner of a large rock a cold blast shoots up from the ground catching him by surprise.

"Gahh! What the..!?"

He gasps in pain, he had stepped on a frost rune. While the rune had not severely damaged him it had in fact slowed him down considerably, this was exactly what Sarydos had planned while the Argonian was still dazed from the rune Sarydos launched his attack. He leaped out from atop a large boulder, wielding his blade in both hands he brought it down, the Argonian tried to block but wasn't quite fast enough. The Blade severed one of his horns and knocked him back, tripping over a rock, he tumbles down the hill into the small valley. Sarydos quickly hops and runs down the hill, rolling very violently the Argonian is unable to keep hold of his weapon and the axe gets tangled in a thick root halfway down the hill. When Sarydos reaches the bottom of the hill the Argonian is trying to get up, grasping at his head where his horn had been he stumbles to his knees one hand on the ground, Sarydos approaches with his sword drawn.

" Wait! Please!"

The Argonian yells throwing his hand up to shield himself, Sarydos quickly swings the blade severing three of the Argonians fingers.

"Gaaahhh!"

The Argonian cries out in pain bringing his arm close to his body.

"Please…. No…"

Ignoring his pleading, Sarydos jabs the blade through the Argonians neck. He makes almost no noise, A quiet choking and hissing sound that fades to silence as he slowly drops to the ground. Sarydos puts one boot on the Argonian's head and pulls his sword from his throat. He wipes the blade clean and seeing how he was in no particular hurry decides to loot the Argonian's corpse, Finding some gold and jewelry he about to move on when he sees a note tucked in the Argonians armor. Curious about it's contents, he opens the letter.

Bounty

By Order of Elisif The Fair:

To all able-bodied men and Women of Haafingar. A heavy bounty has been levied against a troublesome Necromancer in the hold, see Falk Fire-Beard at the blue palace in the city of Solitude for more details.

Having read the letter Sarydos realized that he now had even more reason to head for Solitude and maybe even a way to earn his fortune…..

_Author's note: It's been a few weeks since I last updated this story and I'm sorry about that. I've been quite busy with personal matters but you can expect more chapters soon._


	8. Chapter 8: Business in Solitude

Sarydos pulls his blade from the Frostbite spider and wipes it clean before sheathing it, he turns his gaze forward towards the road ahead, he has almost made it to Solitude and it's not much further now. The day is still young and the sun is still high in the sky, the light not the heat bears down on the land below, Haafingar, like most of skyrim is quite cold. The winds of the north blow through the entire country chilling the inhabitants to the bone. Sarydos passed the carriage then the outer gate, as he approached the main gate the guard spoke to him.

"You're just in time to that traitor Roggvir off."

At this Sarydos gave no reply, simply ignoring the the man, after what had happened in Markarth he didn't very much trust guards or Nords for that matter, in fact, the longer he stayed in Skyrim the more he distrusted them. The way they treated his people in Windhelm, The way they treated the Reachmen in Markarth, just their attitude in general was enough to warrant his disdain. He pushed his way through the gates, as he entered the city his attention was drawn to the right of him. The townsfolk all gathered as if to watch a performance, as he drew near Sarydos realized why everyone had gathered, they were there for an execution. Sarydos could hear the townsfolk speaking amongst each other.

"They can't hurt uncle Roggvir. Tell them he didn't do it." A little girl pleaded to her father.

"Positions." called out the guardsmen heading the execution.

"Svari, you need to go home." The girls father says "Go home and stay there until your mother comes." The little girl runs off passing by a woman on her way to watch the execution.

"You should tell her that her uncle is scum that betrayed his High King. Best she know now, Addvar." The woman says holding disgust in her voice.

"You're all heart, Vivienne." The girl's father says shaking his head and the execution proceeds.

"Roggvir. You helped Ulfric Stormcloak escape this city after he murdered High King Torygg. By opening that gate for Ulfric you betrayed the people of Solitude."

"Traitor!"

"He doesn't deserve to speak!"

"There was no murder!" The man being executed cries out "Ulfric challenged Torygg. He beat the High King in fair combat." The crowd is not pleased by his words.

"Liar!"

"Such as our way! Such as the ancient custom of Skyrim, and all Nords!" He proclaims proudly.

Sarydos had heard the name Ulfric before and to him it was a name belonging to a racist coward, it was probably the same Ulfric, but as much as he despised Ulfric he could not understand why this man was being executed over what seemed to be something so petty. The crowd still gave the man no love.

"Booooo."

"Booooo."

"Cut em down!"

"Booooo." They cried over and over again releasing their hatred on the man.

"Guard. Prepare the prisoner."

"I don't need your help." Roggvir snarls

"Very well, Roggvir. Bow your head."

"On this day... I go to Sovngarde." are his last words as the headsman's axe is brought down upon his neck severing his head sending it rolling across the stone.

Sarydos sighs and continues on his way to the blue palace, It's ridiculous how much the people of Solitude enjoyed that execution, he aspect concerning Sarydos was not death or the act of taking the life of another, for he had taken many lives in his occupation, but rather it was the manner in which the life was taken. In battle one takes the life of another in fair combat and the victor's skill is needed in order to do so but an execution, a man stripped of his weapons and armor and bound so that he has no chance to fight back. An execution is not a show of skill and it is not won honorably, an execution has only one purpose: to send a message. Executions are used to assert power or authority and sometimes to spread fear, Executions are a show of dominance over the one being executed, Sarydos would not be surprised if Executions fell under the sphere of Molag Bal. When Sarydos reached the Blue Palace he was treated to yet another display of Solitude's politics, A man from a nearby village stood before the Jarl's court.

"I swear to you, unnatural magics are coming from that cave! There are strange noises and lights! We need someone to investigate!" The man sounds nervous and desperate, The Jarl herself replies to his plead.

"Then we will immediately send out a legion to scour the cave and secure the town. Haafingar's people will always be safe under my rule."

"Th...thank you, my Jarl thank you." he stutters surprised yet pleased by her answer at this moment a woman who Sarydos concludes is the court wizard decides to cut into the conversation.

"Your eminence, my scrying has suggested nothing in the area. Dragon Bridge is under imperial control. This is likely superstitious nonsense." She says snobbishly, Sarydos' first impression of Solitude's court mage….. She's a bitch, he rolls his eyes at her arrogance.

"Perhaps a more... tempered reaction... might be called for?" A well-dressed Nrod man with a red beard states to ease the tension of the room, He must be Falk Firebeard.

"Oh. Yes, of course you are right. Falk, tell Captain Aldis I said to assign a few extra soldiers to Dragon Bridge."

Thank you, Jarl Elisif. But about the cave..." the man says.

"I will have someone take care of the cave as well Varnius, you can rest easy. You're dismissed."

Sarydos waits until the man has left and the court returns to it's standard daily activities before approaching the Jarl's steward about the bounty. He walks up to Falk Firebeard attracting a few stares carefully keeping distance from the arrogant court wizard in the process.

"Do you have business with the court" Firebeard asks regarding the foreign visitor with a little suspicion. Sarydos hands him the note.

"I came to see you about this." He says, Falk Firebeard unfolds the the bounty looking it over quickly, he then folds it back up and sighs lowering his head.

"I see…" He sighs with a hint of sadness in his voice. " I should've known you'd be here for this…"

"Is there something wrong?"

"This Necromancer…. he's been a problem for a long time….."

"All the more reason to be rid of him."

"Aye."

"Do you know where he is?"

"Yes."

"Where?"

"He's made his home in Shadowgreen Cavern along the coast, but please… I urge you not to go looking for him…"

"Why not?" Sarydos asks confused, Falk sighs and lowers his head.

"I've sent sent so many on this hopeless errand and none have ever returned… The Necromancer….. Calnaro… he is powerful and he is ruthless… I don't want to send another person to his death….."

"I understand your reasoning but this decision is mine, you can't stop me from going. I am in need of the reward and besides how would the Jarl feel if she knew you were preventing the problem from being resolved." At this Falk firebeard had nothing to say he simply sighed in response.

"There is a way you can help, though." Sarydos continued and Falk lifted up his head "Just tell me whatever you can about this Necromancer, you may know something that could help me defeat him."

"Alright." Falk says hoping his information will help keep Sarydos alive. "Calnaro is an Altmer necromancer who is very skilled in Conjuration, Alteration, Illusion, Restoration, and Destruction magic, our reports say that he may have served the Aldmeri Dominion during the Great War but was relieved of duty when his Necromantic activities were exposed."

"What exactly did he do to be thrown out of their army?"

"There are rumors that he experimented and performed Daedric rituals on Aldmeri recruits serving under him…"

Sarydos was surprised at this, the Aldmeri Dominion was a dark force itself and they often participated in shady underhanded activities that the average citizen would be disgusted by but even they condemned Calnaro's actions.

"Calnaro has killed many people who have come to kill him: Guards, Soldiers, Bounty Hunters, Adventures, Thalmor Justiciars, and even Dark Brotherhood Assassins…. none have succeeded in defeating him…"

At this, Sarydos was taken aback, He was beginning to see why Falk Firebeard didn't want to send him, Calnaro will prove to be the difficult challenge Sarydos has ever faced and will require some preparations. Knowing all he needed to know, Sarydos left the blue palace and decided to visit the the city's shops. He stopped by the Apothecary and picked up a few choice potions:

6 Healing Potions

4 potions of Magika

5 potions of Stamina

1 Paralysis poison

Next Sarydos headed up the stone pathway to the local Blacksmith, he figures that a sharpened blade could help improve his chances of surviving.

"I've got weapons for givin', and armor for gettin'" the Blacksmith shouts aloud trying to bring in the customers over to his forge, Sarydos approaches the Blacksmith.

"What can I do for you, friend?" The blacksmith says while tanning some leather.

"I need a sharpening for my blade, do you know how to sharpen enchanted an enchanted blade?" He asks.

"Of course I do!" he says happily "Let's take a look."

Saydos unsheathes his blade and hands it over to the blacksmith.

"A glass blade, hmm?" he says while examining it. "Of Elven make." after a moment he finally says "I think I've got the material to sharpen this blade." after another moment of searching the blacksmith returns with a malachite ingot and begins work at the grindstone and after a short time of careful labor the blacksmith returned with the blade having sharpened it to a fine sharpness. And Sarydos set out for Shadowgreen Cavern for his confrontation with the Necromancer Calnaro.

_Author's Note: This story has taken longer than I thought it would to complete but things keep popping up but fear not the story has nearly concluded, there will only one or two chapters after this._


	9. Chapter 9: Calnaro's Lair

The shore of Skyrim just north of Solitude is quite frigid, not as much so as as Dawnstar or Winterhold but still very brisk compared to most of Tamriel. Sarydos sat on a dry rock staring at the entrance to Shadowgreen Cavern, the lair of Calnaro the necromancer. In his hand, Sarydos held an amulet, it was an amulet that he had aquired from a Khajiit merchant on the road outside of Solitude and it offered his a resistance to magic. Sarydos normally didn't have much faith in the word of a Khajiit, having hunted down Khajiit thugs and Skooma smugglers back in Blacklight, he had grown to distrust them as they only brought trouble but Sarydos was eager to get any edge he could in battle against the dreaded necromancer. He had payed quite a bit of coin for this amulet and hoped it would be worth it. Before he entered the cave, Sarydos knelt down on the cold soil.

"Azura watch over and protect me, Mephala cloak my presence and make it that my footsteps are unheard, Boethiah make it that my blade is razor sharp and brings a swift end to my foe." After his prayer, Sarydos rises to his feet and slips the amulet over his head and tucks it under his armor to keep it from slipping off.

Sarydos slowly enters the cave being sure as to not make much noise, the first part of the cave is a tunnel carved through the rock which Sarydos traverses carefully peering around each corner but soon the tunnel comes to an end and as the narrow covered path gives way to the central chamber, he is stricken with awe at the natural beauty of the cave. Tucked away on the northern shore in a frozen wastes is a secret paradise, the kind of place that would draw pilgrimage from followers of Kynareth, the Tamrielic divine of nature. Sardos quickly snaps out of his awe remembering he cannot afford to be taken by surprise on this task, looking around he notices two large bear corpses lying of the ground nearby.

"Probably Calnaro's doing." he mumbles to himself as he steps around them, crouching down he begins making his way forward towards the large hill in the center of the cavern. He figures that the top of the hill which is not visible from below is probably where Calnaro himself resides. Sarydos stumbles across more corpses of wolves, bears and even a strange wooden creature that resembles a woman with branches springing from her head then he hears a noise. Quickly, Sarydos takes cover behind a thick tree and peers out from behind it, Two figure approach both heavily clad in armor one with a sword and shield the other with a mighty Orcish greatsword, large Nordic warriors but something is off, they each have a strange bluish glow to their flesh and only seem to grunt and moan as they look around. Sarydos realizes that these men are not among the living, poor souls whose bodies have been enslaved by the wicked necromancer to do his bidding, who were they before? Bandits? Adventures? Mercenaries like him? there's no telling who they were only that they were not able to best Calnaro. The two undead guards turn around and begin heading the other way, Sarydos began following them waiting until one fell quite a ways behind the other and then he struck.

He leapt up and and plunged the sword through the warrior's throat, putting his boot on the undead's back he pulled his blade out and swung it back wielding it with both hands so that when undead turned to face him he looped it's head right off in a powerful strike, both the head and the body fell to the ground. Soon afterwards the other warrior came trotting back down the path to investigate and when it saw Sarydos it raised it's shield and approached him sword drawn. With a short running start, Sardos bashed all of his body weight into the shield sending the undead tumbling backwards on it's back before bringing his blade through it's face putting an end to it's resistance. Sarydos pulls his blade from the head of the undead warrior and looks around to see if he attracted any unwanted attention, after a minute or so he decided it was safe to continue forward, crouching as he went he soon came across another undead guarding the cave. A large male Orc with a mohawk and a steel war axe at it's side.

"Damn, another one." he whispered under his breath. The Undead weren't particularly difficult to overcome but he was worried that combat with them might get quite loud and draw the attention of the necromancer which would put a swift end to his plan. Sarydos crept around the warrior as to get behind him for a sneak attack, taking a deep breath he launched his strike, he pushed the blade through the back of the Orc's skull and it fell to the ground, he slipped the blade out of it's head and saw the winding path that lead up the hill and probably to Calnaro. He began up the path cautiously climbing the hill, not knowing what may lie around the next corner. He passed more of the strange wood people's corpses as well a few skeletons with rotting clothes and rusted armor likely more victims of the necromancer. As he neared the top he could hear a voice.

"You were foolish to come here all alone…" Saydos stops dead in his tracks, how could the necromancer know he was there?

"You bastard! You killed my father!" he hears a female voice reply, the necromancer was not talking to him and still had no idea he was there and better yet he was distracted.

"And who was your father? one the foolish adventurers who came to kill me? He deserved to die for his arrogance."

"My father was no heavy- handed fat- head adventurer! My father was a power mage! He served with the legion and was a respected member of the college of winterhold!"

"Ahhh, I think I remember him. Was this his ring?"

"You bastard! You stole it from his corpse!"

"I trinket to remind me of my victory. A lovely ring for my finger and a fresh corpse to be my slave."

"You defiled his body with your filthy necromancy!?"

"He was a useful servant, I never would've been able to get close enough to kill that Imperial Legate Gellitus without his help."

"You're a monster!"

Sarydos was close to the top of the hill and could almost see Calnaro and the woman he was speaking with, he stepped slowly as to be as quiet as possible. He stopped before he reached the top peering from behind the dirt and plants to get a look at the necromancer. Calnaro was a tall thin altmer, his grey hair stood high and spiked back like that of Revyn Sadri with a grey beard on his chin to match it. He wore no warpaint but bore a few scars that stretched across his face crossing his nose, the woman laid on a stone altar bound with rope. She was a young Imperial woman with dark black hair, her face stained with dirt and blood. Off in background was a another undead thrall, a Khajiit warrior with a bow but fortunately he was facing the other way and was unaware of Saydos' presence.

"Your father was a useful tool for a while, his soul now rests in the soul cairn but fear not… you'll be joining him soon."

"I'll kill you!" She shouts as she struggles to get loose squirming.

"Ha! You think you could kill me? look at you, you're pathetic! captured so easily." he mocks her confident of his victory. Sarydos creeps up behind Calnaro hoping to kill him with a single attack. The woman notices him and looks at Calnaro.

"So confident in your victory…" She says smugly, Calnaro looks confused by her sudden change of attitude. Just as he is wondering what is going on Sarydos attacks, he plunges his sword into Calnaro's back and the necromancer shouts in pain. The Khajiit thrall turns around and readies his bow pulling back the arrow and firing, Sarydos ducks under the arrow and rolls back down the path to escape. Wounded badly, Calnaro struggles to get up, The woman is able to turn her body and as Calnaro gets up she kicks him in the back sending him tumbling forward to the ground, The Khajiit thrall fires an arrow which hits her in the forehead killing her. Calnaro struggles back up and raises his hand to cast a close wounds spell to help stop the bleeding. Calnaro summons a chain lightning spell in each hand then rushes down the path in the direction that Sarydos went followed closely by his Thrall. They reach the bottom and there is no sign of Sarydos, looking left and right Calnaro decides to head towards the entrance of the cave, he and his thrall start to head that way. As they start off that way Sarydos rises from behind a rock with his bow drawn and fires it hitting Calnaro in the the leg, specifically his calf. Calnaro drops to his knees grabbing at the arrow in pain, the thrall fires back but Sarydos dodges the attack and hits the thrall with a firebolt killing him instantly, he readies another firebolt for Calnaro but the necromancer counter attacks with chain lightning that hits Sarydos in the shoulder knocking him over. Calnaro pulls the arrow from his leg and limps away towards the entrance of the cave. Sarydos grabs at his shoulder, the damage was decreased by his armor and the amulet but he still got a nasty burn from the attack, he casts a healing spell to regain movement from his shoulder and gets up grabbing his bow. He heads after Calnaro hoping to catch him, when he rounds the corner a lightning spell barely misses him and he ducks behind a tree.

"Do you really think you can defeat me!?" Calnaro shouts in anger "Do you know how many people I've killed? Do you know the kind of power I wield?"

"I know enough to know you're crazy." Sarydos shouts as he jumps out and throws a firebolt. Calnaro raises his ward and blocks the spell easily laughing at Sarydos' effort.

"You're going to have to do better than that! You may have some magical talent but you are no match for me!"

"I don't have to match your spells to kill you!"

"Is that so? Tell me, just how are you planning on killing me?"

"I wouldn't be a surprise if I told you."

"A Surprise? Do you have some sort of master plan of some sort?"

"You could say that." Calnaro flings a powerful thunderbolt spell that tears a large chunk out of the side of the tree which compromising Sarydos' cover, he quickly runs back deeper in the cavern to avoid attack. Calnaro seeing that Sarydos has flead takes the opportunity to mend his wounded leg and regain his mobility. After mending his injury he heads off after Sarydos.

'Out of all the fools who have come to kill me this Dunmer is by far the most infuriating.' He thought to himself, as he makes his way deeper into the cavern he resurrects two of his fallen thralls, the Khajiit and a Nord. The three of them pursue the path that Sarydos likely took back up the hill, when they reach the top they are greeted by an attack. The Nord thrall catches an arrow to the head which sends him tumbling off the side of the cliff and down to the cavern below. Calnaro and his Khajiit thrall return fire with arrows and lightning, Sarydos rushes behind a tree in the middle of a small pond/puddle.

"You're trapped you fool!" Calnaro shouts at him "You're going to die here! Do you hear me!?" Sarydos Quickly unquarks the paralysis potion he bought in Solitude, hastily, he applies it to an elven arrow and places it in his other hand with the bow, he quickly ducks out of cover to throw a firebolt which Calnaro blocks with a ward, now that he has Calnaro right where he wants him Sarydos readies the arrow. Expecting another firebolt, Calnaro keeps his ward up so when Sarydos lept out from his cover firing an arrow, the necromancer was completely unprepared, the arrow hits him right in the palm of his hand where he had held his ward. The pain is excruciating but the Calnaro feels something else, his muscles lock up, he unable to move and falls backwards onto the ground. The Khajiit thrall fires an arrow which splits Sarydos' cheek forcing him behind cover, the poison won't last long so sarydos pulls out another potion and quickly drinks it. The Khajiit thrall rushes forward to flank Sarydos but when reaches the flank he discovers there is no one behind the tree, after a few seconds Calnaro regains his movement quickly grabbing at his hand in pain.

"Damnit! You are going to pay dearly for this!" He rises to his feet quickly and looks around searching for Sarydos.

"Where are you, you coward?!" he turns his head frantically in search of his opponent, The Thrall runs around the area in search of Sarydos.

"Stop hiding, you worm!" He shouts, suddenly he feels a sharp pain in his upper back, a malachite blade burst from his chest piercing his heart, the invisibility potion dispels revealing the Dunmer behind him, writhing in pain he can no longer hold his spell and the Khajiit thrall drops to the ground. Calnaro struggles to slowly turn his head and look behind him, their gaze meets, one cold and victorious the other filled with anger and pain.

"You…. son of a…." before he could finish his sentence, Calnaro drops face down to the dirt. Sarydos wretches his blade from the Altmer's body and wipes it clean, he takes one last look at Calnaro then the Imperial woman on the altar, he then looks around the cavern and his gaze turns to a Treasure chest by the tree that had given him cover. Stepping over Calnaro's corpse he makes over to the chest and finding that it was unlocked he flings it open.

"By Azura!" He shouts aloud, the chest contains at least 5,000 septims as well as a plethora or jewels and jewelry, from gold to diamonds to emeralds to rubies, enchanted necklaces and even some magic scrolls tucked inside. Sarydos had found his fortune, this treasure alone was enough retire on back in Morrowind, he recalled there's still the reward for killing the dreaded necromancer but of course he would have to prove that he had killed the necromancer.

The Solitude guards stood at their post near the main gate when they heard a something approaching, after a moment the saw what appeared to be a dark elf leading a horse-drawn wagon. The wagon was covered as not to reveal it's contents and seemed suspicious which meant they had to stop it before it could be permitted to enter the city.

"Hold." The guard said raising his hand to signal Saydos to stop. "What's going on here? What's in the wagon?"

"The contents of this wagon is the joy of the hold, a gift to all of Solitude, and an end to one of the jarl's most troubling problems."

"You talk in circles, elf. just tell me what's in the damn wagon."

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Sarydos responds, the guard is silent.

"I need to get this to the Blue Palace, it's very important."

"How important?"

"Important enough that the jarl herself will want to be there to see it." After a moment of thought the guard allows Sarydos and his wagon through the gate under his supervision of course. Sarydos and the guardsman guide the wagon through the city to the courtyard of the Blue Palace.

"Go inside and fetch the Jarl and her steward." The guard says to another guard, after a few minutes the guard returns followed the Jarl, Falk Firebeard, the court wizard, and the jarl's housecarl.

"What's going on? What's this all about?" Jarl Elisif asks confused.

"I'd like to know that too." Falk adds, he then notices Sarydos. "It can't be…" he whispers to himself.

"This had better not be a waste of the court's time." says the court wizard, being a bitch as usual. Sarydos walks over to the side of the wagon and places his hand on the large blanket covering it's contents.

"Jarl Elisif…" He begins.

"Truly this can't be happening…" Falk interrupts clearly stricken with all.

"What? What's happening?" asks the court wizard

"Calnaro…" Sarydos says " the dreaded necromancer is dead." and with that announcement he rips off the blanket exposing the Necromancer's lifeless corpse and a large treasure chest. Elisif gasps and everyone is taken aback, even the snobby court wizard is at a loss of words.

"I never thought I'd see the day…" Falk Says "You…. have done Solitude a great favor, I cannot even begin to express our gratitude…"

"Indeed." Elisif cut's in "You shall be greatly rewarded for this."

"This was no small deed, you have proven your might traveler." The court wizard adds. The five of them head into the palace to give Saydos his reward while the two guardsman watch over the wagon. It turned out that the bounty on Calnaro was long-standing and had built up for a great many years, the total bounty on Calnaro's head was no less than 10,000 septims, Finally Sarydos had what he had come to Skyrim for. With the bounty and the treasure he departed Skyrim with a personal escort for protection authorized by jarl Elisif the fair herself but before he could go back to Morrowind he had a promise to fullfill.


	10. Chapter 10: Keeping a Promise

The Drunken Huntsman seemed lonely today. It wasn't empty, well, it wasn't any emptier than it usually was; Elrindir stood at the counter as he always did, Anoriath was there for the early morning but eventually left for his stand in the market, Nazeem and his wife Ahlam had been there that morning as well as they often are, and Olfrid Battle-Born ha come in a few times to tend the spit at the fire, and not to mention the various customers who were in and out of the shop, mostly travelers and hunters in the market for bows and arrows. As the daily rabble continued, a lone dunmer sat in the corner, an empty chair was her only company and though she was never more than a few feet from the patrons and shopkeeper she felt as if she were all alone. Everyday whenever she heard the the shop door open she would quickly look up to see who it was and each time she found only disappointment as she watched yet another stranger step up to the counter. She sat there with her head down gazing at the floor wondering if she would ever see the that dunmeri sellsword again, where had his travels taken him? Was he still searching for his fortune? Did he ever find it? Was he even still alive? she pondered the many questions on her mind, as she did the shop door opened again. This time she didn't look up in fear of yet another disappointment, having heard the door open Elrindir greeted the customer.

"Hello my Dunmer friend, in the market for….." He stopped mid-sentence.

'Dunmer?' She thought to herself, she could hear footsteps approaching.

"Could it really be?' Her heart raced, the footsteps stopped and she saw something that made her very happy; a pair of chitin boots stood in front of her, specifically the kind made from Ash Hoppers, the kind found only in Morrowind. She looked up, her heart beating loudly, she looked up at the man attached to the boots, it was none other than the Sellsword himself, Sarydos Tervandes. A smile spread across her face and she stood up out of her chair wrapping her arms around the back of his neck and pulling him close.

"What are you doing here?" she asks barely containing her excitement.

"What a foolish question." He chuckles putting his arms around her waist.

"You mean you….?"

"That's right, I found my fortune."

"Sarydos…."

"Now I've come to claim you…" He says, tears begin to well up in her eyes and an even bigger smile spreads across her face.

"Crying Jenassa? What will your patrons think?" He teases.

"Oh, shut up." She laughs then pulls him in for a kiss, She holds onto him with all her might not wanting to let go, not wanting to let him out of her sight… never again…

After their teary reunion, Sarydos and Jenassa left Whitrun and Skyrim forever, After all the gold had been counted and all the Valuables inside the chest had been sold the total coin was just over 40,000 septims. The Two took their fortune and went back to Morrowind where they settled just outside of the city of Blacklight in a newly built dunmeri manor where they would live for many years to come….

_Author's note: Hey guys, I know this chapter was pretty short and it definitely could've been added to the end of the last chapter; however, I felt like this should be it's own chapter and I wanted an even 10 chapters. This story took quite a while to complete due to outside distractions so I've decided for my next story I'm going to write the entire thing before uploading it. Thanks for reading my story and I hope everyone enjoyed it._


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